6.27.2012

trailer tuesday

i've been a little under the weather so this week's entry is a little late. sorry about that. for your approval, i present michael r. roskam's bullhead (2011), freshly available on dvd/blu-ray yesterday.

6.19.2012

trailer tuesday

this week's entry is for alison klayman's ai weiwei: never sorry (2012).

6.13.2012

the forecast calls for thunder

speaking of the oklahoma city thunder, which i was yesterday, i must make a little change in our queue de grâce schedule.

like an idiot, i scheduled haylee's queue to run concurrently with the nba finals. that's just not going to fly. game seven of that series could potentially take place on 6.26.12 so i am moving haylee's queue to the week starting 7.9.12. that way we will have plenty of time to flip over cars and set things on fire. see you then.

6.12.2012

trailer tuesday

this week's entry comes hot on the heels of my beloved oklahoma city thunder's first step to bringing home the nba championship. ladies and gentlemen, steve james' excellent documentary, hoop dreams (1994).

6.05.2012

trailer tuesday

this week's entry coincides with the new essential cinema series that begins this evening, courtesy of the austin film society. beginning tonight at 7 p.m. at the alamo south lamar the austin film society kicks off their new program, cinesur: films of latin america, with juan carlos valdivia's zona sur (2009). screenings take place every tuesday running through 7.31.12 with the centerpiece being mikhail kalatozov's magnificent i am cuba (1964) on 7.3.12. my first chance to see it on the big screen!

6.04.2012

bloodless

the modern vampire should stay out of the club. dear lord, they do not know how to rock. invariably, when a vampire sets foot in a club/concert setting we are practically guaranteed the most flaccid, non-threatening musical experience imaginable, doubly so if the band is composed of the undead. you know how to make a goth not scary? turn on a light. pretty boys in fetish clothing playing nü-metal is not terrifying. exhibit A: this eyeliner tapioca from michael rymer's queen of the damned (2002).


absurd. the intro to tony scott's the hunger (1983) barely fares any better, and that's strictly on pedigree and eroticism. david bowie, bauhaus and catherine deneuve are a more interesting combination than anne rice, korn and whoever that male model was in the first clip. still, not exactly what i would call a menacing use of music. take out peter murphy and you're left with love and rockets. oooooooh. exhibit B (for breasts, don't watch the clip if you have an aversion to them):


it seems so simple and yet it has been screwed up again and again, for as long as there have been vampires, guitars and ladies nights. i'll tell you what i would like to see. i want to go into some shitty punk rock club and see this girl:

 come down off the stage and sing this song:


in john brannon's voice, not changing a single word, about two inches away from someone's face. this tiny, slavering, spitting thing giving you precisely 3:22 to find your coat and then the exit. that would be scary. get it right, saps.