DVD Review: “Daydream Nation”
Rating: 65
In “Daydream Nation,” the concept of a teenage wasteland is taken to its logical extreme as Caroline Wexler (Kat Dennings) faces relocation to an awful, insular town where all the teens are stoned on either pot or household cleansers, a pile of burning tires spews benzene into the air and, just to top things off, a serial killer is on the loose. Caroline hates the place, partly because it feels like the end of the world (a recurring motif in writer-director Mike Goldbach’s script), but mostly because there’s nothing to do while the world ends.
This boredom inspires Caroline to seduce her English teacher, Barry Anderson (Josh Lucas), a 30-something failed novelist with anger and attachment issues, while shy and depressed teen Thurston (Reece Thompson) pines for her. Caroline is smart and literate with witticisms at the ready, but she is surrounded by tragedy in a town where the police post curfew signs telling the citizenry to travel in pairs. She has the skills to survive, but her behavior is wreaking its own havoc.
Despite a character named Thurston and a title purloined from Sonic Youth’s landmark 1988 album, “Daydream Nation” has nothing to do with Thurston Moore or Sonic Youth, unless the “Teen Age Riot” at a classmate’s party counts. “Daydream Nation” features solid work from Lucas and especially Thompson (“Rocket Science”), but Dennings, who currently appears in “Thor,” carries the film as it veers from “Reality Bites” ennui into more ominous “Donnie Darko” territory. While it’s possible to get momentarily absorbed in the gathering gloom, “Daydream Nation” is only a minor nightmare.
— Lang
DVD Review: “American: The Bill Hicks Story”
Rating: 84
Patton Oswalt, Louie C.K. and David Cross all have some of Bill Hicks’ creative DNA coursing through their standup routines — the current rise of alt-minded comics could not exist without Hick’s brilliant, messy and sadly incomplete life and career. With “American: The Bill Hicks Story,” directors Matt Harlock and Paul Thomas assemble a fast-paced and personal look at Hicks, who died from pancreatic cancer in 1994 at age 32, and thanks to the vivid recollections of his family, friends and fellow comics, “American” cuts through the legend-making of the past few years to show the boy he was and the truth-teller he became.
Thomas and Harlock employ cut-and-paste animation to illustrate Hicks’ rise, emphasizing his late-1970s beginnings as the teen wunderkind of the Houston comedy scene, when he and childhood friend Dwight Slade perfected their timing through sketch comedy before moving to the standup stage. “American” follows Hicks as the formerly straight-laced boy becomes too enthusiastic about alcohol and drugs, then goes completely sober in the late-1980s and finds his voice as a confrontational, darkly funny social critic.
Because it restricts its remembrances and appreciations to those who knew him well, “American” has more weight and resonance — the directors could have talked to those who inherited his mantle in the modern standup milieu, but the results would feel more commonplace, like a VH1 special. If “American” has a weak spot, it is the relative lack of great Hicks material. To see the man at his best, watch the standup specials “Sane Man,” “Relentless” and “Revelations,” but “American: The Bill Hicks Story” offers insight into how he got to those high points and why he still casts a long shadow.
– Lang
Blu-ray Review: “Betty Blue (37°2 le matin)”
Rating: 88
Now a 25-year-old exponent of cinema du look, the artful renegade film movement that also spawned Luc Besson’s “La Femme Nikita,” Jean-Jacques Beineix’s “Betty Blue (37°2 le matin)” was Beineix’s follow-up to “Diva” and an intensely beautiful tragic romance. It is almost impossible to imagine any other actress as the luscious but unhinged Betty: With her bee-stung lips and transfixing range of expression, Beatrice Dalle seemed born to play Betty — perhaps too much so.
Betty lives with Zorg (Jean-Hugues Anglade), a handyman in charge of painting beach shacks along the French coast. Zorg is also a frustrated writer, and when Betty discovers his spiral-bound novel, her manic side takes over. “Betty Blue” is all about the dark side of what film critic Nathan Rabin calls the “manic pixie dream girl” — Betty is disarmingly beautiful and brings a kind of dangerous excitement to Zorg’s life, but the same things in Betty’s brain chemistry that make her wonderful will also betray her.
Here is Dalle’s audition reel intercut with a recent interview. Francophone abilities might be helpful, but really it’s the visuals that show why Dalle won the role.
In 1986, Dalle was the toast of French cinema, but her own eccentricities and brushes with the law undid a promising career. After Jim Jarmusch’s “Night on Earth,” the next 20 years of freak roles and drug busts were more than a little dispiriting for “Betty Blue” fans. This Blu-ray edition offers a beautiful digital restoration of the film’s original theatrical cut and look back at Beineix’s glory days, but on the downside, this is the 115 minute theatrical version. True fans of the film will want the full three-hour director’s cut, which is still available on DVD, but there is no timetable for such a Blu-ray release. Considering how difficult it was to find a U.S. release of any kind for much of the past decade, this “Betty Blue” will do until then.
Welcome to StaticBlog’s Live Coverage of the 83rd Annual Academy Awards
Huzzah! Thank you for joining StaticBlog for our annual live coverage of the Oscars. This is always the cross-country death slog of live-blogging exercises, but I always come back for the scintillating back-and-forth in the comments section and the opportunity to type until the blood spurts coming out of my fingertips are happening in time with those coming from my eyes. For the love of all things holy, let’s get this cheesefest running!
And we’re off…
7:04 p.m. So, why is it that everything about this show online indicates that the ceremony starts at 7 p.m. CST, but it’s actually starting at 7:30? Weasels.
(Editor’s note: Had some technical difficulties but we are firing up again.)
James Franco and Anne Hathaway hosting the Oscars.
7:48 p.m. Already wasting time with a montage? Gah!
7:49 p.m. Tom Hanks is looking haggard, which means we are all getting a little bit older and a little bit slower.
7: 50 p.m. Hanks awards cinematography. Wally Pfister beats Roger Deakins because his name is funnier to read on the dais.
7:57 p.m. They showcase Amy Adams in the outro for Best Supporting Actress. Does it mean something? Stop trying to ascribe meaning to this.
8: 01 p.m. Kirk Douglas — “She’s gorgeous? Where were you when I was making pictures.” Saying something, given his era.
8:02 p.m. Douglas awards Best Supporting Actress, eventually… Melissa Leo — lost my first prediction of the evening. Well done, though.
8:03 p.m. Melissa Leo: “Wow — mine? For me?”
Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis present at the Oscars.
8:04 p.m. Mila Kunis and Justin Timberlake … uh, I’m sorry, losing consciousness. Slowly… blurrgh…. Damn you, Mila.
Mila Kunis arrives at the Academy Awards.
8:07 p.m. When Pixar’s in the running, it’s kind of astounding when someone else beats them. “The Lost Thing” wins!
8:11 p.m. Mila announces Best Animated Feature, about the biggest fait accompli of the evening. The Oscar goes to Toy Story 3, because the sun rises.
8:17 p.m. These odd little paths to yesteryear are deflating this show.
8:18 p.m. Josh Brolin and Javier Bardem announce adapted screenplay. Call it, friendo: Aaron Sorkin, “The Social Network.”
Aaron Sorkin
8: 19 p.m. Sorkin references Chayefsky in acceptance speech. Good grace note. Stop playing him off — he knows how to string sentences!
8:21 p.m. Brolin and Bardem announce Best Original Screenplay: “The Kings Speech.” Once for each. No way to handicap Best Picture based on this.
Anne Hathaway in a tux and James Franco in a dress at the 83rd annual Academy Awards.
8:32 p.m. Reese Witherspoon announces Best Supporting Actor. Great field,especially Hawkes, but this was always going to Christian Bale for “Fighter.”
Christian Bale
Hugh Jackman arrives at the Academy Awards.
Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross.
Marisa Tomei arrives at the Academy Awards.
Cate Blanchett arrives at the Academy Awards.
Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law present at the Oscars.
9:56 p.m. Oh yeah, they showed Dennis Hopper after hitting the nitrous in “Blue Velvet.” Finally, something that didn’t make me gassy.
10:02 p.m. Hathaway must be wearing a battery pack for that blue dress.
10:05 p.m. Bigelow announces Best Director. Goes to Tom Hooper. “King’s Speech” great and all, but not on board at all. Fincher was robbed. Robbed!
10:06 p.m. Hooper gave a great speech, but “The Damned United” was better.
10:09 p.m. Lifetime Achievements introduced by Annette Bening. Godard didn’t show, of course. Hateth Oscar. As am I, if things keep going this way.
10:12 p.m. Hathaway praises Franco for “doing fabulous job.” Where? He’s hardly been there?
10:13 p.m. Jeff Lebowski gives the testimonial for Annette Bening. Wasn’t Julianne Moore just as good?
10:15 p.m. Glad they gave up the whole “Star Chamber” conferring greatness on nominees. Way too Reality TV, that was.
10:16 p.m. Love the dude, but he’s not really tying the room together.
Natalie Portman arrives at the Academy Awards.
10:17 p.m. Dude announces Best Actress: Natalie Portman wins. Was a little fearful that this was going to go elsewhere. Relief sets in. Richly deserved.
10:20 p.m. Now Sandra Bullock says nice things about five men. This takes too long. Make it stop.
10:21 p.m. Too bad Bardem was about 10 times better than the rest of “Biutiful.”
10:25 p.m. Best Actor would be considered competitive if Firth hadn’t stitched this up like a Tom Ford tux.
Colin Firth arrives at the Academy Awards.
10:27 p.m. Was there any doubt here? Firth was a bigger fait accompli than Toy Story 3 for Best Animated. Deserved, but all nominees did.
10:30 p.m. Firth: “I have impulses I have to attend to backstage”? How deliciously ambiguous! “Awww…” or “Ewwww.”
10:33 p.m. Spielberg is here to end it all by announcing Best Picture. This is where my “Should Win” gets trounced by my “Will Win.”
10:35 p.m. When the entire Best Picture montage is voiced over by King George VI, you know where it’s going.
10:37 p.m. Timpani roll! “The King’s Speech.” And StaticBlog slinks away, slightly dejected, Tweeting in vain in support of the Facebook movie.
10:39 p.m. Thanks to all for enduring a slightly different, Twitter-fueled live blog. And thank you to @nerdage for enabling this simulcast. Cheers!
– George Lang
www.twitter.com/georgedlang
Photos: Flaming Lips NYE Freakout #4
I don’t know where I found the energy to post these pictures.
The latest Flaming Lips show was beautiful, energetic and the most exciting NYE show to date.
-Poppe
Photos: Static Christmas Special
Here’s another reason to get excited about local music.
George Lang and the Static film crew headed to Urban Roots in downtown Oklahoma City and invited several bands to perform Christmas classics.
Here’s a list of the songs and local artists.
• Matt Stansberry & Joe Stansberry — “White Christmas”
• Dr. Pants & Jabee — Run DMC’s “Christmas in Hollis”
• Daniel Walcher & Skating Polly — John Lennon’s “Happy Xmas (War is Over)”
• Sherree Chamberlain & Brine Webb — “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas”
• K.C. Clifford & Jami Smith — Their original song “Draw Near”
• Cami Stinson & Cara Black — “Silent Night” feat. Jeremy A. Thomas
You can check out videos from all these performances on Wednesday Dec. 22.
-Poppe
Music Review: Girl Talk, “All Day”
Rating: 87
In public life, Greg Gillis does two things very well. First, he crafts the best mash-up records on the planet. Then, he twists them inside and out for crazed audiences the world over, something I’ve covered for this blog in the past.
In fact these shows have proven so lucrative that he can afford to give away his record for free, though that may just be a tactic to avoid a trip to court. Regardless, Gillis is the well-listened brain behind the largest (the record clocks in at a gargantuan 71 minutes) and most sample-heavy (373, according to his Illegal Art label’s site) mash-up record ever.
All Day is that record, his fifth, which stands out from his previous body of work, boasting a handful of mash-ups that leave you scratching your head, wondering ‘How did he ever think of that?’ The combination of Soulja Boy’s “Pretty Boy Swag” and Aphex Twin’s “Windowlicker” wins that category, hands down, with the horn section from Jean Knight’s 1971 hit on STAX records, “Mr. Big Stuff” backing Wale’s “Pretty Girls” coming in a close second.
Girl Talk plays at Cain's Ballroom earlier this summer. Photo courtesy of Michael Cooper.
The listener’s reminded of the mash-up DJ’s reliance upon instant pop recognizability from the get-go track, “Oh No” where Gillis, ever the unsubtle one, lends some of Ludacris’s most powerful lyrics (“Move”) to Black Sabbath’s eternally-heavy “War Pigs” in the kind of mash-up that gets a damn party started. He anchors All Day, like all his other records, with modern hip-hop and 90s alt-rock but he’s unafraid to range out into other territory as well. The Beastie Boys hop on track during “Jump On Stage,” their terrific 1985 “got more hits than Sadaharu Oh” lyric meshing with Iggy Pop’s “Lust for Life” in the kind of way that gets your feet kicking.
All Day was no doubt born of on-the-road experimentation. Just be careful if you ever see him live; Hearing “Party in the USA” combined with M.O.P.’s primal verse from “Ante Up” might be enough to drive the teenagers to start riot.
–carney
Video of the Day: Robyn, “Dancehall Queen”
Swedish electro-dance star Robyn dropped a pretty devastating trifecta of innovative pop records on us this year, the “Body Talk” series. “Dancehall Queen” showed up on the first of the albums but this throwback video looks like the kind of thing that MTV played when the network was born.
The song’s mood swings from 90s hip-hop to reggae before settling into a pretty bizarre synth-driven groove somewhere closer to the latter. “I came to dance, not to socialize,” is a great lyric, too.
–carney
Video of the Day: Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti, “Round and Round”
Shot earlier this year on Wayne Coyne’s iPhone while the two bands were touring together, “Round and Round” was edited by the locals at Delo Creative. Wayne jokes about the white puddle being donated breastmilk, but with him you can never quite be sure.
Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - Round & Round from Delo Creative on Vimeo.
The pulsing graphical display really enhances the song’s hypnotic groove during the “round and around we go” parts. Trip-tastic. Head over to Nathan Poppe’s Flickr to see photos from Ariel Pink’s show at Opolis September 15th.
–carney
Video of the Day: SNL does TSA
In honor of Lang’s trip to Paris for the premiere of Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie’s latest flick, The Tourist, here’s the funniest take on the recent barrage of stories about our country’s very -ahem- handsy TSA agents. Watch out for Bill Hader’s eyebrows. Both prominent and creepy.
My name’s Matt and I’ll be with you all week.
–carney
