Note: Angela Carone is taking a well-deserved vacation. She'll be back at the helm mid-October. Hang tight because good things await!

Still from the film Come Wander with Me by Phillip Van.

We live in an age where everyone fancies themselves a filmmaker and they've got a YouTube video to prove it.  On YouTube, you can find plenty of short films competing for your attention.  I've talked to people who've just emerged from a YouTube stupor, their eyes glassy and searching for a horizon.  You can get lost for hours there, wading through junk and occasionally striking gold.  Personally, I appreciate those moments in this modern life when someone or some event comes along to mediate that vast landscape of content, saying "Hey, my media-weary traveler, rest here.  I'll introduce you to really good work. I've spent an entire year looking around so you don't have to."  At times like these, l'll gladly sit my fanny down and eagerly await my fortune. 

Note: Angela Carone is taking a well-deserved vacation. She'll be back at the helm mid-October. Hang tight because good things await!

Filmmaker Errol Morris has a fantastic website full of all kinds of good stuff.  While roaming around, I found this short.  Morris was asked to create an opening film for the 2002 Academy Awards to replace the host-driven dance number that normally kicks off the show.  Morris talked with close to 100 politicians, writers, artists and celebrities about movies -- their favorites and why, what they get from movies, etc.  He used his now famous interviewing method, which has him sitting out of sight in a curtained booth while his subject sits directly in front of the camera.  Morris calls this camera the "interrotron."  It has a screen displaying Morris and that's how he asks his follow-up questions and directs his subjects.   You can hear Morris asking questions in a lot of his films, and you can in this short as well.  He kind of barks his questions, and it's great to hear this passionate voice coming out of nowhere.  I wonder if the yelling, barking voice is just Morris' personality or an effect of being seperated from his subjects (you know, the same effect that causes some people to talk really loudly on a cell phone).  Anyway, this short features the late Susan Sontag, Laura Bush, Iggy Pop and Laurie Anderson, among others (when do you ever expect to see Laura Bush in a string of names with Susan Sontag, Iggy Pop, and Laurie Anderson. Weird).  

Note: Angela Carone is taking a well-deserved vacation. She'll be back at the helm mid-October. Hang tight because good things await!

Yesterday was the anniversary of Frenchman Philippe Petit's 1974 tightrope walk across a cable suspended 110 stories above the ground.  The cable went between the World Trade Center towers, which were the tallest buildings in the world at that time.  He walked it without a safety net.  He wasn't wearing a harness of any kind to save him if he slipped.  Petit spent 45 minutes on that rope, carrying a balance bar and walking back and forth, kneeling down, and, at one moment, even lying down.  He toyed with the police, who stood on the edge of the roof, trying to coax him off the rope. Onlookers gathered on the street below, amazed and terrified by what they saw. The new documentary Man on Wire tells Petit's story by taking its cues from caper films, so you feel the tension and suspense leading up to Peiti's famous walk.  By the time we see him gliding on top of the world, we've already been treated to archival footage, artful reenactments, and interviews with Petit, who is an enthusiastic storyteller, to say the least. 

I really loved this documentary.  The director, James Marsh, did a great job of pulling together the material and made one courageous and wise choice:  never once is 9/11 mentioned in the film.  Marsh could have so easily included 9/11 commentary and remembrances to up the emotional investment of viewers, but he didn't.  He let the story of Petit and his obsession serve as an homage to the towers.  I promise you'll be swept up in this movie and left telling the story of Petit and his daring feat for days to come.

Note: Angela Carone is taking a well-deserved vacation. She'll be back at the helm mid-October. Hang tight because good things await!

I'm a film lover, but there's this weird thing that happens to me when the lights go down in a theater.  First there are the trailers -- which I love.  Most of them are bad, but the good ones stay with me.  Mostly, I love trailers because they represent possibility.  They are neat little packages of seduction.  After those 10 minutes of possibility, I get the thing I actually paid for... the thing that could let me down... the movie I've actually come to see.  Which gets me to the weird thing that happens:  I'm always slightly disappointed when the movie starts.  These are not the words of a film lover, I know.   But because I've built up expectations and hopes, I'm uneasy. 

One of the things that eases the disappointment of a film's beginning is a good title sequence.  A title sequence is an art form in itself, like the book jacket cover or album art.  Title sequences have become a showcase for design, illustration and music.  Years ago, a friend turned me on to the beauty of the title sequence for To Kill a Mockingbird.  And I still remember seeing the David Fincher's thriller Se7en , with its stunningly dark but gorgeous beginning set to a Coil remix of Nine Inch Nails' Closer. 

I just learned about a great site that has been compiliing title sequences called Art of the Title.  It's captivating!  You can watch the title sequence for Showtime's Dexter (which I've been watching On Demand and getting totally creeped out).  It's clearly influenced by the Se7en design - just as macabre,  but with more pop and zip.  It makes the morning rituals of coffee, shaving and breakfast into a twisted ritual.  The camerawork is something to behold.

My other favorites are the title sequences for American Splendor, Donnie Brasco and the amazing Delicatessen. 

Note: Angela Carone is taking a well-deserved vacation. She'll be back at the helm mid-October. Hang tight because good things await!

Cupcakes have been all the confectionary craze for a couple of years now in New York and LA, with Amy Sedaris as the cupcake pied piper.   San Diego is now jumping into the batter with its own twist.  Square cupcakes!  Personally, I didn't need a square version to get me on board but if this is what it takes to get a pistachio cupcake with pomegranate frosting, so be it.  I'll worship the square.  Other unique flavors: Lilikoi--vanilla cupcake with lilikoi (passion fruit) buttercream frosting, Peanut Butter and Jelly--peanut butter cake and strawberry frosting, Vanilla Chai--tender Chai cake with vanilla/orange buttercream frosting, and the other siren in the bunch for me, a Lemon White Chocolate--white chocolate cake with a hint of lemon frosting with white chocolate ganache.  These sweets are only $2.75 each.  Grand opening is today!

This interactive feature from The New York Times is so, so fun.  You can look at a sampling of Al Jaffee's back cover fold-in's for Mad Magazine.   Jaffee still does the fold-in's for Mad, drawing them by his 87-year-old hand!  I went through the feature twice trying to find the elements of the resulting images in the original drawing.   A worthy time suck.

McSweeney's has a mini film school course in three lines.  Citizen Kane, The Godfather, and other greats are hilariously boiled down.  For example:

West Side Story

TONY: Cinema has a long literary tradition. This one's based on Shakespeare.

MARIA: Just like that Amanda Bynes movie!

TONY: (Sigh.) Let's just dance-fight.

Errol Morris seems to be everywhere right now, which is really a good thing.  He has a new documentary coming out about Abu Ghraib (the site for his film is really good - but be prepared to look at the unbelievably disturbing photographs again).  Can't seem to find an opening  date for San Diego... anyone? Tentative opening in San Diego is May 2nd.   Morris and Werner Herzog chat it up over at The Believer.  I regularly have the dinner party fantasy:  what's the most interesting mix of 8 people for dinner?  My fantasy guest lists change all the time, but Werner Herzog and Errol Morris together is a bang-up start.   Morris has also written two interesting opinion pieces in NYT about using re-enactments in documentaries.

KPBS Senior Editor Alan Ray on the new Scorsese-helmed Rolling Stones documentary Shine a Light:  "All rock and wrinkles."  He doesn't recommend it. 

A lot of you probably know about Flickr, the online photo sharing site, but have you ever browsed the photographs in Flickr's San Diego group?  There are some great images of our fair city by visitors and local photogs.  Enjoy!

And finally, check out these Garfield comic strips without Garfield... way better.  Thanks for the tip, Edward!

Note: Angela Carone is taking a well-deserved vacation. She'll be back at the helm mid-October. Hang tight because good things await!

These Days host Tom Fudge loves to talk about movies.  In fact, so does everyone on the These Days staff.  There tends to be a lot of movie discussion towards the end of the day, when the news cycle has hit a lull, or on Thursday afternoons when we have a breather (These Days doesn't have a show on Friday mornings... but you knew that because you listen EVERY DAY, right?  And then at 11am you immediately start reading Culture Lust...I must say, you're all fine, fine people).

Tom was on vacation last week and must have missed our movie conversations.  When he and his wife rented a movie from Netflix, an interesting conversation followed and Tom sent Culture Lust these thoughts on movie myths, anti-male conspiracies, and reveals that his wife wins all their arguments!

Gender, Parenting, and the Great Anti-male Hollywood Conspiracy

By Tom Fudge
 
Mythology and its many stories make us believe that certain things are true and right. This has been the case throughout human history. All that’s changed is the medium. Myth was communicated orally, then scripturally. Today it’s done cinematically.

The myth of the movie cowboy has instructed us in matters of independence and self reliance. Disney movies have influenced gender roles and our relationship with animals. In fact, I don’t think we would have an animal rights movement without Walt Disney. Several generations of Americans were traumatized by the murder of Bambi’s mother and it didn’t take long before some of them created PETA.

I was thinking of the power of Hollywood myth-making as I was watching a movie that my wife got from Netflix. It’s called Dan in Real Life.  It stars Steve Carrell and Juliette Binoche in a story where the main character is a single Dad (Carrell) with three daughters. The Dad seeks to have a romance with a woman (Binoche) who, he later learns, is dating his brother.

As I watched this movie I saw that it contained a subplot that some members of the so-called men’s movement strenuously object to. I’m referring the portrayal of the main character’s wife. “What portrayal?” you’ll be wondering if you’ve seen the movie. She’s dead, and he’s a widower. But that’s just it.

If she were alive she’d be right there caring for her kids. Death is the only thing that will pull a woman away from her children and her maternal duties. Call it the Sleepless in Seattle supposition.

Note: Angela Carone is taking a well-deserved vacation. She'll be back at the helm mid-October. Hang tight because good things await!

I never, in a million years, thought I would write a title like that.  And it's true.  On April 20th 18th, fans of zombies, strip clubs, and porn can come together in celebration of the wonders of cinema.  I'm more than a little frightened.  The press release reads:  "As one of the strippers gets the virus, she turns into a supernatural, flesh-eating zombie stripper, making her the hit of the club."

Note: Angela Carone is taking a well-deserved vacation. She'll be back at the helm mid-October. Hang tight because good things await!

What do we hear when we hear a who?

By Tom Fudge 

Last week protestors caused a ruckus around the opening of a movie called Horton Hears a Who. The movie is based on a children’s book by the late Dr. Seuss, a one-time San Diego resident whose real name was Ted Geisel.  The demonstration was inspired by the story’s proclamation, by kind-hearted elephant Horton, that “a person’s a person, no matter how small.” Anti-abortion activists came to the movie’s premiere and handed out flyers afterwards, telling people that Horton’s statement explains why we need to protect the unborn.

The demonstration irked a few pro-choicers. But it didn’t bother me. I have no idea what Ted Geisel’s views on abortion were or whether he even gave the subject any thought. I do know that art speaks to different people in different ways, and the producer of the art is only half of the equation. Consumers make up the other half. And if Horton’s love of people “no matter how small” makes you think of a fetus, so be it.

Note: Angela Carone is taking a well-deserved vacation. She'll be back at the helm mid-October. Hang tight because good things await!

These Days host Tom Fudge is a Cormac McCarthy fan and here he tells Culture Lust readers why.....

A Cognac for Cormac 
By Tom Fudge

I didn’t spend much time watching the Academy Awards on Sunday, but I watched enough to hear the news that No Country for Old Men won the award for best picture. I enjoyed the movie, and I’m sure the Coen brothers deserve a lot of credit for making it. But the person most responsible for that movie was the man who wrote the novel, Cormac McCarthy.

Cormac McCarthy has become my favorite writer. It’s rare to pick up a novel and be immediately blown away by the quality of the prose. But that’s what happens when you read McCarthy. And if you’ve seen the movie, No Country for Old Men, get a copy of the novel. You’ll be struck by how much the scenes in the movie owe to the book. I don’t think this happened because Joel and Ethan Coen revere McCarthy. They simply realized there was no way to improve on McCarthy’s dialogue and descriptions.

One of the first things you notice, when reading McCarthy, is that he doesn’t use quotation marks when he’s writing dialogue. Here’s one example, from No Country, in which the killer, Chigurh, interrogates the owner of a gas station. If you saw the movie, you’ll remember this scene. Chigurh hears the owner say he goes to bed at about 9:30, then he says:

I could come back then.
We’ll be closed then.
That’s all right.
Well why would you be comin back? We’ll be closed.
You said that.
Well we will.
You live in that house behind the store?
Yes I do.
You’ve lived here all your life?
The proprietor took a while to answer. This was my wife’s father’s place, he said. Originally.
You married into it.
If that’s the way you want to put it.
I don’t have some way to put it. That’s the way it is.
Well I need to close now.

I’ve often thought writing is a visual medium because you see the written words. When your eyes pass over dialogue like McCarthy’s, you’re struck by how perfectly it captures the essence of the words and the drama of the situation. His method of leaving out punctuation is one way he does that.

Note: Angela Carone is taking a well-deserved vacation. She'll be back at the helm mid-October. Hang tight because good things await!

That's right, I've decided to live blog the 80th Annual Academy Awards.  We know it's the 80th because they've been telling us on the red carpet for the last hour! 

By the way, I watched the Independent Spirit Awards this morning (rebroadcast on IFC) and it was soooooo good.  I'm hoping the Oscars is close to it in quality and entertainment, but I highly doubt it.  I must have updated my Netflix list 20 times during the show.  

On to the red carpet..... 

5:03 p.m. - George Clooney just invited Regis Philbin to Italy.  I'm guessing Joan Rivers never got that invite.

5:10 p.m. - Regis is now talking to Miley Cyrus.  Who???? Exactly, no idea.  It turns out she's Disney famous.  She's Hannah Montana. 

5:12 p.m. - Faye Dunaway scares me.

5:14 p.m. - Helen Mirren is so amazing.  She looks fantastic, claiming that her red gown is inspired by her latest role as a brothel madam.  She also said she's excited to present the Best Actor award, and then mentioned that there aren't as many good roles out there for women.  I think Helen Mirren should run for president.  

5:17 p.m. - Daniel Day Lewis and Rebecca Miller on the carpet.  Rebecca Miller is one of the most talented writers in Hollywood and because of that she can be as kooky as she wants - and let me tell you, she's wearing the kookiest dress I've seen tonight.  But you know what?  Let's just praise kooky for a minute.  The Oscars has become so earnest and tasteful.  Where's Cher, and Bjork, and that Native American woman who stood in for Marlon Brando?  Here's to Rebecca Miller and her kooky dress!  Hopefully, Julian Schnabel will wear his fancy pajamas.

5:26 p.m. - I'm nervous for Jon Stewart.