brb, in the uk

I won't be around much for the next few weeks. I'm going to the UK to do some work shit and wander around. I'm flying into London and out of Edinburgh three weeks later. That's really all I know at this point. Possible activities in the middle include:

1. getting fired
2. finding out Streets lyrics aren't the same as everyday speech
3. wearing a velvet cape into the Globe Theatre
4. shooing away gangsters by standing on a porch with a shotgun and no clothes
5. playing the new GTA with Burial
6. watching some soccer
7. going to Dublin
8. chillin' in a castle
9. probably a lot of beer
10. uh....

It's going to be a long trip with a lot of unexpected turns and while I have no idea whether it will be good or bad or how I'll feel when I get back, I am sure that this image will sum the entire thing up quite perfectly:



If anybody has any suggestions or lives there and wants to get a beer, email me.

I Made You Some Fruit Loops

don't like fruit loops huh? corn pops? capn crunch? just blink if any of these sound okay.

(thisisnthappiness)

Happy Halloween

(Waxin & Milkin)

Spongy Delicious Bastards: Zombieland

Zombieland (Ruben Fleischer, 2009)

There were previews for all kinds of scary movies before Zombieland, but none are actually coming out for Halloween weekend. Is this some kind of new marketing wisdom? Do more people see scary movies after they've blown $100 on their slutty salad nicoise costume and eaten enough peanut butter cups to make Jonah Hill feel inadequate?

Zombieland isn't really a Halloween movie. People make a big deal about zombies but zombie movies like this are the same as action movies. The zombies could just as easily be Russians or Taliban or Chinese ninjas and the movie wouldn't skip a beat, which is to say, it would still be pretty awesome.

Woody Harrelson's only mission is finding twinkies. Harrelson, I'm ashamed to say that I know this, is a really strict weird vegan root food-that-hasnt-touched-the-ground nut and seed herbalist. Or something to that effect. So the whole movie was like a big joke on him that he was in on. I loved it. Best part.

And of course, Bill Murray.

Why was the movie so graphic at the beginning? It didn't rely on people vomiting linguini, but there was a lot of linguini vomit. All the blood and guts cooled off after the first 10 minutes, which was nice, but why was it there at all? I think they just needed to appease the gore fans and then go about their business of being funny and firing shotguns. I am in the wrong business.

Space Pirates

I love these guys.

Pulp Fiction Sound FX Track

I'm jealous and a little afraid of the guy who had the patience to make this.

(via FilmDrunk)

Ice Breaking: Italian For Beginners

Italian for Beginners (2000, directed by Lone Scherfig)

I've gotta clean a little house here. I saw this in preparation for my Lone Scherfig interview. I rarely think I'll ask questions about their old movies, but I have to watch them just to build the confidence. It's like doing all the reading before a final in a literature class. You know you can BS all the essay questions without doing all the reading, but something about having done it all gives you a little extra confidence. No surprises. But it also means I sit around after the fact, realizing I never needed to do the reading, and wondering why I didn't spend that time doing something cooler.

Italian For Beginners is cleverly done. It's about a mix of lonely people in a small town in Denmark who somehow all end up joining a beginning Italian class. Their dating habits, jobs, friendships, and personality quirks all get them into odd little messes. The Italian class gets them out again.

There is no fancy lighting, no elaborate sets, no big actors, etc. Very low budget. All driven by story, acting, and dry nordic humor. You gotta respect movies like this. They're focused, driven, clever, and make something out of nothing. Feel like watching a movie you'll respect? Yeah, me either.



I'm gonna stop doing stars. It's asinine.
Similar to: Kitchen Stories, Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself, Noi

No Banana In My Tailpipe

"Axel knows how to say it right."

(lonelysandwich)

10! ... 10!

Sometimes I wonder why I even "chat" at all in gchat.

'An Education' Things

Review.

"If you're into period piece porn there's some eye candy. (A brief scene at the dog races takes the cake.) And people in the audience did seem smitten with the whole affair. So there's that."

Interview with director Lone Scherfig.

It didn't end up in the transcript, but she's a huge Michael Haneke fan and says his new movie, White Ribbon, is one of the best 25 ever. Exciting...

Where The Wild Things Are

I review it here.

I have more to say about it but I'm kinda worn out. People will say it's great, but then ask those people this question: "What is the movie about?" If they give you a satisfying answer, I'll stand corrected.

His New Movie's Not Bad

Red Cliff. (Alternative title: Yet He Have No Friends)

Woo seemed like a cool dude. The roundtable interview was monopolized by some very gushy and uninspired questioning. Some days there's just nothing you can do.

John Woo

I get to ask the godfather of dual-wielding 9 MMs a few questions tomorrow. Any ideas?

Don't Worry

INTERVIEWER [George Plimpton]
Do you find it easy to shift from one literary project to another
or do you continue through to finish what you start?

HEMINGWAY
The fact that I am interrupting serious work to answer these
questions proves that I am so stupid that I should be penalized
severely. I will be. Don’t worry.

Merlin's got me hooked on this.

And another, for good measure:

INTERVIEWER
It has been said that a writer only deals with one or two ideas
throughout his work. Would you say your work reflects one or
two ideas?

HEMINGWAY
Who said that? It sounds much too simple. The man who said
it possibly had only one or two ideas.

It Was Tough Getting To Work This Morning

(bigfuckingexplosions)