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2014 has been a very special year for Space Ibiza. Since opening its doors and kicking off the Ibiza party season on May 25th, every night has been filled with great moments.
You could only close such... Read more
The prèmiere of the book 25th Anniversary Space Ibiza: the Story of the Best Club in the World, 1989-2014, which pays tribute to Space Ibiza's 25 years of age and collects the experiences of its founder Pepe Roselló, was held on Tuesday, September 23 at 8:30PM on the legendary terrace... Read more
To cap off a season at the highest level where Space Ibiza has been celebrating its 25th Anniversary, comes one of the nominations for the awards that create more excitement and expectation in the country: the Vicious Music Awards by Carlsberg. The nomination for "Best Club" is shared with other... Read more
October 5th arrived and with it the most anticipated Closing of the year. In its 25th anniversary season with six different stages, Space Ibiza brought together artists such as Carl Cox, Richie Hawtin, Deep Dish, Disclosure DJ set, Nic Fanciulli, Visionquest, John... Read more
As promised. Friday, October 3rd has arrived and with it the latest additions to the line-up of the Space Closing Fiesta. Richie Hawtin, Nina Kraviz, Paco Osuna and Gaiser are the finishing touch to the farewell of the 2014 season, marked by the 25th anniversary celebration of the club.
There are... Read more
1. Both Recondite and Richie Hawtin perform at our final pre-party of the season at Lips Beach Club in Playa D'en Bossa, live to air from 8PM on Ibiza Global Radio.
2. Paco Osuna in the ENTER.Sake Bar - a chance to see him for the one and only time of the season... Read more
The innovative approach of the season comes to an end between dates: 17 dates speak of the success achieved by the union of Kehakuma-elrow, 17 memorable parties where musical selection, floats, ambiance, performance and avant-gardes have gone hand in hand. Space Ibiza has managed to... Read more
The city of Cologne witnessed an authentic parade of beats last Saturday, October the 18th as the most special journey of the year travelled across Europe to visit the German town. The Space Ibiza 25th Anniversary tour flew from the White Island to the Rhine basin with all of its... Read more
"Being out of the ordinary: unusual"; "distracted with desire or excitement". That's what you find in the dictionary if you look up the word 'crazy'. And this is a perfect definition of what happened last Friday, October the 17th when the most special journey of the year, the Space Ibiza... Read more
Life divides into two categories: the moments you breathe and the moments that leave you breathless. People love films as long as they make them feel like living unique experiences. What would happen, then, if you combined an amazing party, filled with incredible moments, and the distinct feeling of cinema?... Read more
The underground electronic music mastermind Javi Bora starred once again in an unforgettable party at the most revolutionary of clubs: Elrow. The terrace of the Viladecans venue hosted another spectacular Kehakuma event last October the 12th with artists such as Eats Everything, System of Survival and Dubfire at the booth.... Read more
After the dazzling success of the Space Ibiza On Tour party last July the 19th in Cologne, the German fans were surely willing for another show - and the Platja d'en Bossa club is always ready to offer it! That's why the most special journey of the year, the Space... Read more
All great adventures start with a first step. When, back in the Middle Ages, the mighty Duke of Bavaria built a bridge over the Isar river, he surely did not imagine that that bridge would become a great metropolis – and the capital of one of the wealthiest regions on... Read more
There is a country where the desert sand meets the crystal-clear water of the sea; a legendary city dominated by infinite buildings, so high their tops get lost in the clouds; a magical place with islands in the shape of palm trees. The inhabitants and visitors of this incredible site... Read more
The world's best electronic music will travel to Germany to invade the Wupper river valley in the North Rhine-Westphalia region. A powerful army of beats, gathered and commanded by the renowned international DJ Camilo Franco, will besiege the Apollo 21 club of the city of Wuppertal next October the 11th... Read more
Holmes and Watson, Laurel and Hardy, Tintin and Haddock or even Bonnie and Clyde; there are some duos whose celebrity goes beyond the borders of time and space to become true classics. This could easily be the case of Kehakuma and Elrow, a couple made by and for the sake... Read more
The 2014 summer at the northernmost Balearic Island has been simply unforgettable. A series of top artists have visited the rooms of the refined and intimate Space Menorca to offer their music to an enthusiastic audience. Keeping the high standard of such a brilliant season at the closing party was... Read more
Space Ibiza continues to support insular sports and renews its sponsorship with Penya Esportiva Sant Jordi for another season. Space Ibiza recognizes the great work that this club, referenced as the Balearic soccer base and board of directors have made to promote the sport on the island.
Nearly 300 children and... Read more
The first graphic design competition of the Ibiza electronica scene reward the best posters of the 2014 season.
Ibiza Design Awards is an independent, non-profit festival that seeks to recognize work in the field of advertising and graphic communication from the clubs and local participants, including, Space Ibiza.
A jury of... Read more
Ibiza Bus presented a new line on July 1st, Discobus 3-B, which reaches San Antonio with Playa d'en Bossa.
This new service in addition to the existing Ibiza bus lines and public taxi services, complete a specific plan to provide access to recreational areas of the island during the summer.
The... Read more
Space Ibiza has a quarter of a century history being a leader in electronic music trends and has become a pilgrimage place every year to lovers of this musical style who visit the Pitiusa Island. For that reason, it receives this year El Suplemento Award for the best entertainment initiative.... Read more
Sant Jordi B, the Preferente youth league football team sponsored by Space Ibiza, were the judges of the promotion to the national youth league in the match held at the Can Guerxo pitch last May the 3rd. The game, the last of the tournament, ended up in a 2-0 victory... Read more
Space Ibiza and The Hepatitis C Trust give you the chance to join us at the Space Opening Fiesta on the most supportive way. How can you do it? Donate as much as you like to this association, answer a simple question and get the opportunity to win:
- 2 British Airways tickets... Read more
The CN Sant Antoni surfski paddler Daniel Sánchez Viloria, sponsored by Space Ibiza, ended up fifth in the men's absolute World Cup-Eurochallenge held on May the 2nd in Villajoyosa, Alicante. Daniel became the best European athlete of the tournament, right behind the South Africans Sean Rice (current World Champion), Jasper... Read more
The last stage of the XIV 'Vuelta a Ibiza' in mountain bikes left no space for surprise. The race was held on Sunday, April the 20th, with its start and finish in the Caló des Moro beach (Sant Antoni). Probike team members Ibon Zugasti and Josep Betalu, sponsored by Space... Read more
The unfortunate news about Frankie Knuckle's decease has filled Space Ibiza with sadness. The Platja d'en Bossa club had had the honor of hosting the godfather of House music several times and all its team wishes to show its sorrow for this irreparable loss. Rest in peace, Frankie.
Born in New... Read more
Space Ibiza is proud to announce the renewal of its sponsorship of judoka Víctor Canseco, who is nowadays training hard to prepare for the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympic Games. The Ibizan athlete, runner-up in the 2012 Spanish championship, will enjoy the full support of the most awarded club of... Read more
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Ok folks, this week is insane -- the number of excellent shows that did not make the cut for this post could easily fill another, if not for the nagging reality that time is finite. We don't want to short-change you though, so here's the runner-up rundown: Crowbar at Fubar on Monday, Cursive at Off ... More >>
Zola Jesus | Talk Normal The Luminary Center for the Arts February 23, 2012 The power behind Nika Roza Danilova's vicious pipes, mythical, phantom stage presence and empowered, anxiety-tinged songwriting makes Zola Jesus feel like aural noir. An opera-trained songstress, Danilova and her vocal fero ... More >>
8 p.m. Monday, April 11. The Old Rock House, 1200 South Seventh Street.
9 p.m. Tuesday, March 23. The Billiken Club, 20 North Grand Boulevard, in the Busch Student Center on the campus of Saint Louis University.
It's time to rank the best of what went around and came around again. BILLY JOEL The Stranger (Columbia/Legacy) As punk and disco exploded, the Piano Man's deeply unhip 1978 breakthrough proved that top-shelf Broadway/Brill Building songwriting could still sell - and, occasionally, rock. "Scene ... More >>
The Blood Brothers are so postmodern, we�re not sure they really exist yet.
A local music fan starts Broke & Hungry Records, Matador Records gets its videogame on and the debut of "Yo! RFT Raps"
Ari Ari starts 2006 on a spazzy high note
Monday, April 18; the Gargoyle (on the campus of Washington University, Forsyth and Skinker boulevards)


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The best films of 2013
Posted by gschmidtcleach in My Best Movies on December 31, 2013
The above title is misleading. It's something I mention every year, but it bears repeating nonetheless: the above title is misleading. It implies objectivity when in fact there is nothing more subjective than those end-of-the-year lists. "My favorite films of 2013" would be a better title, or at least a more accurate one. I mention it every year, and every year I still go with "the best films of whatever year it is," because tradition, and because it sounds much better, and because it gives me an excuse to talk about this objectivity/subjectivity thing and to acknowledge that my lists always end up looking somewhat weird. As in different. (To a certain extent, of course.) Not that different's bad, obviously. The last thing we need is for all those lists to include the exact same films in the exact same order. (See also Yeezus topping way too many best albums of the year list while not even being the best rap album of the year by a long shot.) Those lists are meant to encourage discussion, so different's not bad, as long as it's justified. Being contrarian for the sake of being contrarian is just trolling. Armond White may have made a career out of it, but it's not a terribly interesting position.
The reasons my lists tend to look a bit strange are twofold. The first and more obvious one is taste; Blue is the Warmest Color, for instance, is a film you'll see pop up on quite a few of those best of the year lists, but while I liked it well enough, I didn't quite love it as much as many did. The second reason is simply that I live in France, not the US, so when I talk about "the movies of 2013," I'm not actually referring to the same set of films many list-makers are. There's a lot of overlap of course, but also significant differences. For example, Twelve Years a Slave and Her, two of the most acclaimed movies of the year, won't be coming out until January 22 and March 19 of next year, respectively; meanwhile, two of the films on my list won't be coming out in the US until next year at the earliest. Other well-received films not yet out here include Nebraska and American Hustle (although I haven't been a fan of the recent output of both Alexander Payne and David O. Russell), Fruitvale Station, The Spectacular Now, and Short Term 12, and even Johnnie To's Drug War and Shane Carruth's Upstream Color. (That last one is unlikely to ever be released here, so I went ahead and got it on DVD instead of waiting for a theatrical release that'll never come; for a good long while it was my favorite movie of the year, and it likely would have ended up 3rd or 4th.) That also means that quite a few 2012 movies were only released this year here; those include Django Unchained, Lincoln, Zero Dark Thirty, and The Perks of Being a Wallflower, all of which would have had a solid shot at my top 10 had I considered them. Instead, as usual, I only considered movies that came out in France this year while arbitrarily excluding those that had an American release in 2012. I'll readily admit it doesn't make much sense, but that's the way I've been doing it for the past four years now, so yay tradition. (I also somehow missed The Act of Killing, A Hijacking, and The Great Beauty while they were playing here, three movies that received significant critical acclaim in the US.)
And now, without further ado, the list.
10. The Past
Asghar Farhadi follows up A Separation with another heartrending drama, set this time in the suburb of Paris. Ali Mosaffa stars as a man coming back from Iran to finalize his divorce from Bérénice Bejo, only to get caught up in a conflict between her daughter and her new boyfriend (Tahar Rahim). The characters of The Past, like those of all of Farhadi's movies, are all decent people trying to do the right thing and struggling to figure out exactly what that is. The Past isn't quite the masterpiece that A Separation was, but what it is is a very good movie about our inability to escape from our own lives. "The past is the past," Tahar Rahim says at one point, but of course that's not true (Farhadi doesn't quite quote Faulkner, but the idea's the same). Farhadi once declared he is more interested in questions than he is in answers, and with his latest, he once again provides plenty of questions, and precious few answers.
9. Pacific Rim
Guillermo del Toro's Pacific Rim was the most fun I had at the movies this year, so much so that I went back to see it four times (although to be fair I saw all but two films on this list at least twice, if not three times). While most blockbusters have taken a cue from Christopher Nolan's Batman movies and gotten more and more grim and serious, Pacific Rim went in the opposite direction, and the result was phenomenal. Its flaws may be obvious (Charlie Hunnam isn't exactly the most compelling of leads, the exposition-heavy dialogue is sometimes a bit stilted), but it does so many things right that it doesn't really matter. It's an amazing feat of world-building, and if the characters are indeed little more than stereotypes, there's quite a bit going on under the surface. And of course the fight scenes are a ton of fun.
(Here's my take on what differentiates Pacific Rim from many modern blockbusters, and why I don't think it's a "dumb" film.)
8. Stoker
Let's get it out of the way: yeah, the screenplay to Stoker, Park Chan-wook's English-language debut, isn't the strongest, although it's much better than some may have you believe. But any flaw in the writing is more than made up for by the incredible visuals. This is a marvel of direction and editing, a film that's at once gorgeous and incredibly creepy, and by far the best horror movie of the year. Matthew Goode makes for a most unnerving villain, and Mia Wasikowska continues to impress in what turns out to be the origin story of a monster. Much like Pacific Rim, Stoker is more style than substance (which is true of most of Park Chan-wook's movies to begin with), but when the style is so compelling, who cares? Plus, it closes with a kick-ass Emily Wells song that perfectly fits the mood of the movie.
7. Like Father, Like Son
After the relative disappointment of Air Doll and the solid-but-not-spectacular I Wish (although many will disagree with me on that one), Like Father, Like Son marks a return to form for Koreeda Hirokazu. The story of two families (one well-off, one not so much) whose 6-year-old sons were switched at birth, it explores the questions of class you would expect it to, but focuses just as much on what it means to be a parent. Never sentimental but often heartbreaking, Like Father, Like Son manages to avoid the clichés it could have easily wallowed in and refuses to pass judgment on any of its characters. It also once again showcases Koreeda's ability to film children like nobody else, although this time most of the film is seen from the point of view of the adults, who seem to have at least as much trouble adapting to the situation as the kids.
6. Gravity
The thrill ride of the year, Alfonso Cuarón's Gravity is an incredible feat of filmmaking. Following Dr. Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock) as she tries to make it back to Earth however she can after getting caught in a storm of asteroid-like debris that kills everyone on her team but her and fellow astronaut Matt Kowalsky (George Clooney), it is a visceral experience that grabs you right away with its amazing opening scene, one of Cuarón's trademark long takes that lasts some seven or so minutes, and never lets go. Gravity is a breathtaking technical achievement, a movie that uses 3D in a more interesting and convincing manner than any other film before (although I have a soft spot for the way 2011's Final Destination 5 embraced the 3D gimmick in its opening credits). I literally saw it twice in a row on opening night, after seeing it a week before at an advanced screening, and it felt every bit as awesome (in the strongest sense of the world) every time.
5. The Wolf of Wall Street
By far the best American comedy of the year, The Wolf of Wall Street also just so happens to be about a bunch of drug- and money-crazed crooks. Anyone who thinks Scorsese is endorsing Jordan Belfort's deeds and lifestyle isn't paying attention; we're meant to laugh as much at these assholes as with them, and it's made abundantly clear that for all his charm, Belfort is a monster. "Money makes you a better person," he claims at some point, before doing everything in his power to disprove that notion. "Stratton Oakmont is America," Belfort tells his cohorts, calling his company the real "land of opportunity," but five minutes later his closest associate is leading them in a chant of "Fuck USA!" This is the American dream taken to its logical extreme, where all that matters is the individual, and fuck everybody else. The Wolf of Wall Street is insane and brilliant and exhausting, but at almost three hours, it doesn't feel a minute too long.
4. Before Midnight
Nine years after Before Sunset (and eighteen after their first meeting in Before Sunrise), Céline and Jesse are back, this time as a married couple with children. The opening scene, which has Jesse say goodbye to his now-teenage son going back to his mother thousands of miles away, makes it clear that their getting together at the end of Before Sunset did come at a cost. And now that cost is threatening to become too high to bear. "This is how people start breaking up," Céline says early on, and for the longest time it feels like we might very well be looking at a break-up about to happen. For the first time in what's now become a trilogy, Céline and Jesse fight, arguing not only about abstract concepts but also about their own day-to-day life, and they do so in realistic fashion, jumping from one topic to another, bringing up old grudges the other didn't even know existed, getting caught up in ever more hyperbolic arguments that quickly spin out of control. Before Sunrise was a movie about falling in love, but this is a movie about what it takes to stay in love in the face of time and the routine of life. Here's hoping that, nine years from now, we get another sequel that's just as good as this one.
3. The World's End
The final installment in Edgar Wright's so-called Cornetto trilogy is also arguably the best. Simon Pegg (who once again co-wrote the screenplay) stars as Gary King, a former high school rebel now pushing forty who wants nothing more than to relive his youth by dragging his old friends through their hometown to complete the pub crawl they attempted twenty years before. Except this time they also have a bunch of Stepford Wives-like robots to contend with. The World's End is just as funny as Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, but it's surprisingly affecting, too (Gary's "They told me when to go to bed!" is, in context, pretty fucking heartbreaking). Pegg and Wright understand both the attraction of nostalgia and the danger of living in the past, which makes their Gary King, alternatively a charismatic leader and a drunken buffoon (and often both at the same time), more than just a cautionary tale or the butt of the film's joke. And then there are those crazy fight scenes, a reminder (especially to those who haven't seen Scott Pilgrim vs. the World) that Edgar Wright is also a pretty great action director.
2. Inside Llewyn Davis
The Coens' latest follows Llewyn Davis, a doomed folk singer in early-1960s Greenwich Village. A tragicomedy that's part Barton Fink and part O'Brother, Where Art Thou?, Inside Llewyn Davis is an almost pointless odyssey that has Llewyn (Oscar Isaac finally getting the part he deserves) run in circles and learn seemingly nothing, except perhaps that closing the door before the cat can get out is a pretty good idea. Llewyn is another one of those characters the Coens like so much, an asshole we can't help but feel sympathy for and a talented artist (Isaac does all the singing, and damn does he have a good voice) who keeps getting in his own way. For all the laughs it gets (and it gets a lot of them), the movie hits surprisingly hard, and a little too close to home at times. When Llewyn tells his sister that working as a sailor and not making art is "just existing" in a way that makes it clear what he thinks of that, it's hard not to relate, while at the same time realizing that he is being a huge dick. Some have argued that the Coens dislike their characters in general and Llewyn in particular, but to do so is to forget the fact that, for all his dickishness, Llewyn is profoundly human, and often profoundly touching.
1. Snowpiercer
This probably won't come as a surprise to anyone who's read that glowing review I wrote a couple weeks ago (or who follows me on Twitter, where I've repeatedly called it the best film of the year). Bong Joon-ho's English-language debut is everything one could have hoped for and more, a crazy action thriller packed with twists and turns, a movie that's funny and brutal and that's got more to say than all most of those other science fiction allegories put together. This is Bong Joon-ho showing Hollywood how it's done, and then some. This is, I've said it before and I'll say it again, a masterpiece.
(My review.)
Honorable mentions: Jeff Nichols's Mud and Harmony Korine's Spring Breakers (my review) were the last two films I cut from this list. Other movies that didn't make the cut for one reason or another but deserve a mention include, in alphabetical orders, Ain't them Bodies Saints, All is Lost, Behind the Candelabra, Blue Jasmine, Captain Phillips, Fast & Furious 6, Frances Ha, Les Apaches, Mama, A Simple Life, To the Wonder, A Touch of Sin, Venus in Fur.
Review: Snowpiercer (2013)
Posted by gschmidtcleach in Reviews on December 19, 2013
A blockbuster production with a devilishly unpredictable plot. This is how, towards the end of the movie, a character describes the events of Bong Joon-ho's Snowpiercer, in a brazen moment of meta commentary. Because of course that description applies to the movie itself. For his first English-language film, South Korean genre-mashing master Bong does indeed go blockbuster-big, with a movie that's larger in scale than anything he's done before and a star-studded cast that includes Chris Evans, Tilda Swinton, John Hurt, Octavia Spencer, and Bong stalwart Song Kang-ho. At the same time, that one-sentence description can be seen as Bong acknowledging the fears of some of his fans that his idiosyncratic style could be compromised by his working with a bigger budget and additional creative constraints. (See Kim Jee-woon's Arnold Schwarzenegger vehicle The Last Stand, a perfectly serviceable and enjoyable movie that nevertheless can't touch any of his South Korean output.) Of course, by the time that sentence is uttered, those fears have long been proven unfounded. Devilishly unpredictable, as it turns out, is quite the understatement.
Based on an '80s French graphic novel (and co-written with Before the Devil Knows Your Dead writer Kelly Masterson), Snowpiercer is set in 2031, aboard a train that houses the last remnants of humanity. The prologue explains that in 2014, several countries dispersed a chemical in the atmosphere in order to try to counteract the effects of global warming, a move that backfired when said chemical proved too effective, leading to a new ice age and to the extinction of all life on earth. (Those familiar with the rest of Bong's oeuvre will notice the similarities with The Host, which opens with scientists dumping formaldehyde into the Han river, inadvertently creating the movie's mutant monster.) The only survivors were those lucky enough to board a giant train built by the mysterious Wilford, which now runs around the world without ever stopping. Unfortunately, not all passengers were created equal; those who were able to afford an actual ticket live in the front section of the train, enjoying, we are told, steak dinners and fine music, while stowaways are parked in the tail section, living in abject squalor and at the mercy of Wilford's brutal police force.
It has now been seventeen years since what was left of humanity boarded the train, though, and revolution is brewing. Previous attempts at revolt have been unsuccessful, but this time the tail-sectioners have a secret weapon, a mysterious informant who sends them messages hidden in the protein rations they're given to eat every day. The de facto leader of the rebellion is Curtis (Chris Evans), a smart and driven man who seems nevertheless uncomfortable with the responsibilities others want to saddle him with, and who would much rather defer to the tail-sectioners' spiritual leader, Gilliam (John Hurt). The enemy is the never-seen Wilford and the face of his oppressive regime, buck-toothed Minister Mason (Tilda Swinton) and her small army of guards. Once the revolution starts, the plan is for Curtis and his forces to make their way up the train until they reach the engine room, Wilford's inner sanctum, and to seize control of the engine and, therefore, of the train. It all sounds so simple.
The revolution, though, doesn't start right away. Bong takes his time in setting up his movie, devoting almost half an hour to showing us how the tail-sectioners live, the violence to which they are subjected daily, the injustice of Wilford's regime. We meet Curtis's enthusiastic second-in-command Edgar (Jamie Bell), who doesn't remember his mother's face or what steak tastes like, and mama bear Tanya (Octavia Spencer) and her adorable tyke Timmy, who wants nothing more than to be allowed to play with 'the ball' (for there appears to be only one in the whole tail section) for an hour. Bong's in no rush to get to the action and as a result, when the action does finally happen, we are entirely aware of what's at stake for everyone. The opening stage of the revolution is over almost as fast as it started, but this two-minute action sequence is more tense and thrilling than half the year's blockbusters put together, because we know what the characters stand to lose if they fail (if not exactly what they stand to gain).
From there Curtis and his ragtag crew of rebels slowly advance towards the engine room, enlisting banished engineer Namgoong Minsu (Song Kang-ho) and his daughter Yona (Go Ah-sung) to help them open the gates separating each car from the next. The train setting works to Bong's strengths beautifully: each new car is like a different self-contained world, which lets him showcase his knack for switching from one genre to another effortlessly and seamlessly. Bong makes transitioning from a brutal fight in a dark hallway to a comedy scene set in a brightly-colored classroom (complete with a crazy song-and-pantomime number) seem easy and, above all, logical. Every new car is its own crazy set piece, but the whole somehow makes sense. It's a style Bong's perfected over the course of his career (see in particular The Host), but it wouldn't work half as well if it weren't for his brilliant cast. Chris Evans sheds the squeaky-clean Captain America persona to provide a most compelling performance as Curtis, the balanced center without which the film's craziness just wouldn't work, while also hinting at deeper issues that don't get hashed out until a couple of scenes late in the film (and Evans sells the hell out of what could have been corny reveals and instead turn out to be quite the emotional one-two punch). Tilda Swinton is barely recognizable as the grotesque Minister Mason, alternately haughty and grovelling, a villain that's almost too pathetic to hate. And then there's Song Kang-ho, probably the closest thing we're ever going to get to a modern Toshiro Mifune, capable of going from broad slapstick to subtle drama and back all within the same scene. Snowpiercer is Bong Joon-ho and Song Kang-ho's third feature together, after Memories of Murder and The Host, and it's hard to think of another actor that would be better suited to Bong's style.
Snowpiercer is also the latest in a series of politically-minded science-fiction movies that includes films like In Time or this year's Elysium and, of course, the Hunger Games series. The metaphor at the heart of Bong's film isn't subtle, nor does it claim to be; "The train is the world," a character says at one point, "We, the humanity." However, unlike, say, Elysium, Snowpiercer never sacrifices story or character in service of its metaphor. Here again, the setting works in favor of the movie, providing an endless source of forward momentum (no pun intended), as the rebels advance towards the head of the train. At the same time Bong remains a master of pacing who knows exactly when to slow things down and provide a quiet scene or two that will only make the action to come hit harder. (Chances are, if Harvey Weinstein does get to chop up Snowpiercer like he wants to, those essential quiet scenes will be the first to go.) Violence is something that's always present in the film's universe, right below the surface, but Bong knows to build towards it, to have it explode in sudden and, if at all possible, surprising bursts, and that makes it all the more effective.
Because Snowpiercer, as it turns out, is a brutal, brutal movie. It shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone familiar with Bong's work, but it does, perhaps because by now we've become so accustomed to science-fiction movies providing large-scale destruction and violence that's at the same time largely devoid of real stakes and human drama. Not so here. Curtis's revolution is bloody, and it comes at a great and often horrifying cost. The question of whether it is worth it is actually at the center of the movie; it's something most of those science-fiction-metaphor movies rarely touch on (although to its credit Catching Fire does, if only briefly), because the revolutions they offer are anything but. Perhaps this is the most impressive thing about Snowpiercer, the boldest thing about it, this deliberate avoidance of easy resolutions. While movies like In Time or Elysium admit that the system is broken, they also offer reassurances that it can be fixed (in Elysium's case with the laughably literal push of a button). Snowpiercer, on the other hand, argues that perhaps the system is broken beyond repair, that the only way to fix it would be to scrap everything and just start over. It's a much more unsettling thought, especially since Bong eschews definite answers, but it makes for a much, much more interesting movie. In the end, Snowpiercer once again proves that Bong Joon-ho's a master. And this is his masterpiece.
Review: Elysium (2013)
Posted by gschmidtcleach in Reviews on August 16, 2013
Four years ago, Neill Blomkamp scored an unexpected hit with his first feature, the science fiction/action film District 9. Carried by a manic performance by breakout star Sharlto Copley, the movie adroitly (or not so adroitly, depending on who you ask) morphed from faux documentary into shoot 'em up, without ever losing sight of the central metaphor that made it a vicious critique of South Africa's immigration policy. Now Blomkamp is back with Elysium, which he wrote and directed, another high-concept science fiction offering. Working with a much higher budget and actual big-name stars, Blomkamp delivers a mindless action vehicle that's at least often visually arresting. It's one step above most of the terrible science fiction blockbusters of the year (I'm looking at you, Oblivion and Star Trek Into Darkness), but several steps below Blomkamp's own debut.
Elysium opens with some expository text explaining that by the end of the 21st century, our planet got so polluted and overpopulated that the rich and powerful just up and left for a space station, the eponymous Elysium, leaving the poor behind to toil away in giant factories. This is accompanied alternatively by shots of Elysium, so lush and green it looks like Naboo in the Star Wars prequels, and of a run-down Earth where all cities seem to have devolved into slums (in one of the film's cooler shots, we see a dilapidated tower with people camping out on makeshift balconies). We then move from this global scale to a much personal one, as we're treated to a series of flashbacks showing us how two kids, Max and Frey, met in a Los Angeles orphanage run by Spanish-speaking nuns. This sequence feels rushed and awkward, a clumsy way to provide generic backstory and heavy-handed foreshadowing ("One day I'll take you up there," Max tells Frey as she's drawing a symbol she says means "Max and Frey forever" on his hand). This doesn't prevent Blomkamp from coming back to those flashbacks throughout the movie, just in case we didn't get it the first time around.
Finally we get to the present, or at least to 2154, when the film's action takes place. Max (Matt Damon) is now in his 30s, and he's just finished a 3-year stint in jail for grand theft auto. He works at the local droid plant, building the very robots that then harass him as soon as he sets foot outside his apartment. This part plays like a black comedy, with Los Angeles as some sort of fascist state ruled by robots that threaten you with jail time before offering you pills to calm your nerves, and the conversation between Max and his "probation officer" (a crude mannequin that asks at some point if Max is "being sarcasting-slash-abusive" towards it) seems like something right out of Terry Gilliam's Brazil. Yet the whole thing is undermined by the fact that Max brought this all on himself, willfully antagonizing security droids when he knows full well they'd be suspicious of him to begin with. Max's idiocy is short-lived and plot-mandated: in the ensuing scuffle, his arm gets broken, which sends him to the hospital so that he can then run into Frey (Alice Braga) and reconnect with her after years spent apart. Unfortunately, most of what happens in the film similarly does because the plot demands it, and acts of inexplicable stupidity and transparent contrivances are commonplace.
While Max is trying to convince a less-than-willing Frey to go grab coffee with him, local kingpin Spider (Wagner Moura) is busy sending illegal shuttles towards Elysium. The station's Secretary of Defense, Jessica Delacourt (Jodie Foster, who gets to show off her flawless French), will have none of it, though, and she calls on psychotic agent Kruger (Copley) to shoot down the shuttles. Elysium doesn't seem to be equipped with any defense system of its own, which seems like a pretty big oversight until you realize that Blomkamp needs to introduce Kruger as working in Los Angeles somehow; once again, plot takes precedence over logic. Delacourt's handling of the situation is met with disapproval from Elysium's President, so she comes up with an elaborate plan to stage a coup. Meanwhile, back at his job, Max gets accidentally (as in, by being stupid) irradiated, and when he gets told he has five days to live, he decides to find a way to go up to Elysium to use one of the station's Med-Pods, which have been shown to be able to cure every ailment. Of course, Max soon gets himself tangled up not only in Spider's machinations, but in Delacourt's as well.
If that sounds a little complicated, well, it is and it isn't. There are theoretically many players in Elysium, but in effect, the film quickly comes to revolve around Max and Kruger, while the others sit around and watch. And I mean that quite literally: Spider and Delacourt both spend a good chunk of the movie sitting in front of computer screens, watching the other two running around or shooting at each other. Frey has it even worse; the introduction makes it seem as though she's going to be a major character, but what little screen time she has she spends either following Max around or cowering in terror from Kruger and his henchmen. (To be entirely fair, she does get to patch up a wounded Max at some point, but that's about it.) That's because Frey isn't so much a character as a prop to move the plot forward. So is everyone else; Spider can be a ruthless crime lord one moment and a humanist working for the greater good the next, and Kruger can make the most baffling decisions, all based on what the story needs them to be and do at a certain point. Everything about Elysium is similarly mechanical (insert joke about Max's goofy-looking exoskeleton if you will), meant to take you from point A to point B with little regard for things like character motivation or development. If District 9 worked, it's because Wikus van de Merwe and Christopher Johnson were actual characters; the whole point of the movie was Wikus's transformation from a callous bureaucrat into a more compassionate individual. But there's no such thing at Elysium's core.
Movies should be judged on their own right, of course, but Elysium really seems to invite the comparison to its predecessor. Not only are both science fiction actioners built around a central allegory, but whole parts of Elysium seem lifted straight from District 9. The basic story is exactly the same: guy gets irradiated/infected by something that will kill him/turn him into an alien within days and tries to find a way to save himself. Max, like Wikus, spends most of the movie motivated only by his own survival, and finds himself forced to fight a psychotic South African mercenary working for a nefarious government (Copley's intense and creepy Kruger is one of the best things about the movie, but he's no match for David James's Koobus Venter). Frey and her leukemia-addled daughter even serve the same role as Christopher and his son did in District 9 by forcing the hero to reconsider his actions, but unlike the alien duo, they don't get to actually do anything. It's as if Blomkamp had decided to remake his own movie, replacing the characters by hollowed-out versions, and making whatever cosmetic changes are necessary to accommodate the allegory he is working with this time.
When it comes to that central allegory, Elysium has the subtlety of a sledgehammer (I mean, the rich live in a space station named after the closest thing Greek mythology had to Heaven, come on). That isn't necessarily a problem; after all, District 9 was hardly a model of subtlety itself. What is a problem, though, is the fact that Blomkamp doesn't seem particularly interested in what his premise has to offer beyond a basic setting for his movie, an excuse for his action scenes. Sure, having Kruger, the film's main antagonist, be under the heel of the Elysium elites for most of the movie is a nice touch (the poor fighting the poor while the rich prosper), but that's about as far as Elysium goes. We're never made to understand just how that world works, what the exact consequences of Max's actions might be. In Elysium, class inequality is a problem that can be fixed by strapping on a nifty exoskeleton and duking it out with a South African psycho, or so it seems. But as Delacourt points out early on in the movie, resources on Elysium are not infinite, and giving everyone access to it does nothing to solve that problem. By the time Matt Damon is punching Sharlto Copley in the face on a suspended bridge, though, Blomkamp seems to have long lost interest in that question, and the film's class politics dissolve in a barrage of explosions and barely intelligible action. One man changing the world with his fists, the Hollywood way. If only it were so easy.
Pacific Rim and the modern blockbuster
Posted by gschmidtcleach in Uncategorized on August 4, 2013
Warning: The following contains some minor spoilers for Pacific Rim, Star Trek Into Darkness, and Iron Man 3 (if you count a very oblique reference a spoiler).
Over the past couple weeks I've had what basically amounts to the same conversation with several different people who didn't seem to have enjoyed Pacific Rim as much as I did, to put it lightly. Most of them actually seemed baffled that I could love it so much. "But the story's so predictable!" they said. "And the characters are a bunch of clichés!" And, to a certain extent, they're right. Pacific Rim's story is rather straightforward and traditional, and most of its characters are broad archetypes. But my response to that is, why is that such a bad thing?
I'm not trying to be glib here. I mean it. Why is having a story whose shape you can recognize considered a weakness? Why is relying on archetypes suddenly a problem? Of course, Pacific Rim's detractors will argue that its story is too predictable, its characters too archetypal. I'd contend that you can only reach that conclusion if you refuse to engage with the movie at all, if you only look at it at a surface level. But there's something else. The more I think about it, the more I realize the problem is not with Pacific Rim. The problem is with modern blockbusters, and with the expectations they have created.
Do you know what other movie has a story that fits a very traditional mold and characters that are barely more than archetypes? Star Wars. You've got the farmhand destined to be a hero, the mysterious mentor, the princess in distress, the wisecracking mercenary who turns out to be a valuable ally, the seemingly all-powerful evil adversary, etc. (Yes, things get slightly more complex once you hit The Empire Strikes Back.) Star Wars is high fantasy in space, and it hits every tope in the book. What makes Star Wars so good, though, is the way it manages to create an entire world, to give us a glimpse into this place and make us believe it really could exist… which is exactly what Pacific Rim does, too! And it does it using the same tricks, giving people and places names that stand out, making things look striking and unique. Luke Skywalker and Stacker Pentecost. Tattooine and the Shatterdome. The Mos Eisley Cantina aliens and the kaiju. Pacific Rim is like Star Wars in many, many ways (down to the exposition-heavy dialogue and at times awkward acting).But we don't want our blockbusters to be like Star Wars anymore.
Nope, nowadays, we want our blockbusters to be like The Dark Knight. We want our heroes to be dark and tortured, our plots to be as convoluted as possible. Don't get me wrong, I love The Dark Knight; I just hate what it's done to Hollywood.
Don't believe me? Just take a look at this year's crop of blockbusters. Everywhere you look, it's brooding heroes and excessively complicated stories. I say complicated, not complex, because most of those stories have little in the way of complexity. Complex is hard to pull off, after all, but complicated is the next best thing, and with any luck, people won't be able to tell the difference, especially if you re-use the same tired thematic cues everyone else is using in order to make it seem as though you've got something to say. We've been made to think that a complicated story is a smart story, and that a straightforward one is dumb. So blockbusters are packed with reveals, reversals, betrayals, and other plot twists, most of them to the point that they stop making any sense.
Take Star Trek Into Darkness, for instance. Into Darkness features not one but two villains, about half a dozen dramatic reveals, and more War on Terror imagery than The Dark Knight itself. Into Darkness is also perhaps the most stupid film I've seen all year. And I've seen Trance. The problem (or, rather, one of the many problems) with Into Darkness is that, in order to seem complex, it refuses to reveal any of its characters' motivations for the longest time, which in turn means that the villains' respective plans make no sense at all. (Seriously, Khan's plan has got to be one of the dumbest I've ever heard.) But, hey, Khan's a terrorist, and there's some vague mention of drone-like weapons, too, so this must be a deep movie, right? Nope, sorry, it's just a super dumb film trying to trick you into believing it's not. And Into Darkness isn't the only movie to suffer from this problem. So does Iron Man 3, an otherwise much, much better film: the Mandarin reveal works beautifully, in large part because Ben Kingsley sells it so well, but the main villain's plan is at best vague, at worst incoherent. Even blockbusters in which the entire world isn't at stakes (a rarity these days) aren't immune, as The Wolverine proves. As long as it tries to be The Grey with Hugh Jackman instead of Liam Neeson, it works alright, but when it finally starts delving into the machinations that have been going on in the background, it stops making sense altogether.
Pacific Rim doesn't suffer from this problem. Pacific Rim makes sense throughout. Sure, the science is a bit wonky, but in terms of story logic, of going from point A to point B without having to make a stop at point "everyone becomes really stupid all of a sudden," Pacific Rim is super solid. Is the story simple? Yes, absolutely. Is it dumb? I'd argue it isn't. Star Trek Into Darkness is dumb. Prometheus is dumb. Hell, Man of Steel is pretty fucking dumb. (Man, the whole Pa Kent thing is so irredeemably stupid.) But Pacific Rim's story, as familiar and straightforward as it may seem, isn't dumb. And the main reason for that is that we understand why the movie's characters do what they do, and that those motivations actually make sense.
Which brings us to, yeah, characters. As I've already said, there's no denying that Pacific Rim's characters are, for the most part, broad archetypes. But at least they're actual characters, with their own motivations and personalities, traits that come out in their interactions with one another. Again, that's more than can be said about most blockbusters these days. Take Star Trek Into Darkness, again. Into Darkness has, what, perhaps two actual characters, Kirk and Spock, and I'm being generous. Everyone else can be defined in at most a sentence (Khan is evil (because he's evil), Simon Pegg is the character Simon Pegg plays in every non-Edgar Wright movie, and Karl Urban frowns a lot) and, more importantly, they barely interact with anyone that's not Kirk or Spock. They're not characters so much as props standing around, which wouldn't be that bad if Kirk and Spock had fully-fledged, vibrant personalities, but, yeah, not really. (I'd argue Spock's only interesting because he truly feels alien, which is due more to Zachary Quinto's performance than to the limp script he's saddled with.) The Wolverine is even worse, in that no one but Logan seems to have any personality whatsoever. At least Logan gets some kind of character development, which is more than can be said of anyone in Into Darkness. (If it seems like I hate that movie, well, it's because I do.)
But the characters in Pacific Rim do get to interact with one another, they get to show us why they're the way they are, even when the way they are feels very familiar. Raleigh, who would have spent half the movie moping around after his brother's death in any other blockbuster (man that would have sucked) serves as a catalyst; much like Jack Burton in John Carpenter's Big Trouble in Little China, he may be the movie's protagonist, but he's not the hero (that would be, of course, Mako). Thanks to him, we gain access to the Mako/Pentecost relationship (still what I consider by far the best thing about the movie, and a much more interesting relationship than you'll find in pretty much any modern blockbuster), and to the one between Hercules Hansen and his son Chuck. And while the Raleigh/Chuck sorta-rivalry may feel rehashed, here it's not so much about the protagonist earning the respect and loyalty of an ally, but about understanding why a character is acting like a dick (because, hey, Chuck's actually got very good reasons not to be thrilled about Raleigh and Mako piloting a Jaeger) and having him turn into, well, somewhat less of a dick. (The exchange between Pentecost, Chuck, and Herc as the first two set out to kick some kaiju ass at the end packs a surprising punch, if you accept to actually engage with those characters. Herc's "That's my son you've got there!" gets me every time.) If Raleigh's so bland, and there's no denying he is, it's because Pacific Rim belongs to its secondary characters, to Stacker Pentecost and Mako Mori (again, the movie's real hero for me), to Herc and Chuck Hansen, to Newton Geiszler and Hermann Gottlieb. And, of course, to Hannibal Chau. All archetypes, sure, but all much more real and interesting in their interactions with one another than most other blockbusters' characters.
Because, as del Toro clearly understand, and as so many Hollywood execs seem not to, simple isn't the same as dumb, and complicated sure as hell isn't the same as smart.
Review: Fast & Furious 6 (2013)
Posted by gschmidtcleach in Reviews on May 23, 2013
There's a moment in Fast & Furious 6, that featured heavily in the trailers, where Dom (Vin Diesel) jumps off the roof of a moving car to save (ex-)girlfriend Letty (Michelle Rodriguez), miraculously brought back after her apparent death in the series' fourth installment. What the trailers don't show you, though, is the way director Justin Lin builds up to that moment. The scene takes place on a two-lane bridge, with Letty riding atop a tank in one lane and Dom driving his muscle car in the other. Between the two lanes is a large gap; if Letty falls, she's unlikely to come back this time. As Letty climbs on top of the tank, Lin cuts to a reaction shot of Dom, who puts his car in higher gear to catch up with the tank. Letty's going to fall, we know, but Lin drags it out, cutting from the tank to Dom's car to the various other players in the chase and back to Dom again. And then, in one instant, it happens: Dom, a hand still on the steering wheel, climbs out the window, and just as Letty is catapulted into the air, he jumps. His aim is perfect, and we watch (in slow motion, of course) as he catches Letty in mid-air, wraps his arms around her, and twists his body around to break her fall, right before they slam into the windshield of a stalled car. At that point, just as Dom's body comes to rest against the windshield, the entire theater I was in erupted in laughter—and applause.
The Fast & Furious franchise is all about moments like that one, big, preposterous moments that invite equally big reactions from the audience. No one understands that better than Lin and screenwriter Chris Morgan, who have helmed the franchise since the third installment and know exactly how to please the fans. Dom's motto is "ride or die," but it might as well be "go big or go home." And since 2011's Fast Five, no franchise has gone more outrageously and enjoyably big than this one.
Fast Five was built on the genius idea of bringing together almost every single character in the franchise, creating a criminal superteam not unlike that of Ocean's Eleven (except more racially diverse, and with more female members). For this installment, the team is joined by DSS agent Luke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) who spent the previous movie chasing after them but now needs their help catching an even bigger fish. The target is one Owen Shaw (Luke Evans), a former SAS operative and the leader of a gang that includes Letty, who's trying to assemble a device that would allow him to black out all military communication in a country for 24 hours. This story, of course, is little more than an excuse for a series of set pieces each more outrageous than the last, from several races through London to a climactic sequence taking place on what has to be the longest runway in the world.
The danger with any long-running franchise is to have later installments turn into little more than a collection of nods to previous entries in the series, of in-jokes that make the new films inaccessible to anyone but die-hard fans. It's a pitfall Fast & Furious 6 doesn't entirely manage to avoid. The opening credits, for instance, consist of nothing but shots of the previous five movies, a sort of "previously on…" segment that will paradoxically make little sense to those who are new to the franchise. The Letty storyline also calls on stuff that happened in the previous two movies, and although Lin uses flashbacks to fill new viewers in, having prior knowledge of what happened sure helps. There's a surprisingly large amount of backstory here, for a film whose story is mostly inconsequential.
The callbacks and in-jokes aren't so numerous as to make the film incomprehensible for newcomers, though. Here it actually helps that the story is so simple, the characters barely more than archetypes, slight variations on their usual screen persona. Letty is the quintessential Michelle Rodriguez character, Dom's the hotheaded badass Vin Diesel plays in almost every single one of his movies, and Dwayne Johnson is, well, Dwayne Johnson. (In what is perhaps my favorite throwaway gag of the year, his caller ID on Ludacris's—sorry, Tej's—phone is "Samoan Thor.") New additions to the cast include Gina Carano, the former-MMA-champion-turned-action-star (who starred in Steven Soderbergh's brilliant Haywire), as Hobbs's aide Riley, and The Raid: Redemption's Joe Talsim as one of Shaw's henchmen. Neither has much in the way of dialogue, but needless to say, their respective fight scenes are among the best the franchise has ever had.
Fast & Furious 6, like Fast Five before it, is a modern action blockbuster done right. It's big and loud and way, way over the top, and it's self-aware without being self-conscious. It has Vin Diesel and Dwayne Johnson hamming it up and having the time of their life, Tyrese Gibson and Ludacris endlessly trading lame barbs, and Sung Kang (the breakout star of the franchise as far as I'm concerned) and Gal Gadot making googly eyes at each other and being surprisingly convincing about it. It has huge set pieces skillfully put together by a director who actually knows how to film tense action scenes that make visual sense. And above all, it has many, many big, preposterous moments that'll make you want to cheer and clap and revel in the outrageousness of it all.
Review: Spring Breakers (2012)
Posted by gschmidtcleach in Reviews on March 9, 2013
Harmony Korine's Spring Breakers tries very hard to make you believe it is a really dumb movie. This is a film, after all, whose opening sequence looks like one of those late-night Girls Gone Wild commercials, only in slow-motion and set to Skrillex. A film that has James Franco playing a rapper who moonlights as a drugs and arms dealer (and vice versa), calling himself Alien and driving a convertible with a "BALLR" license plate. No, seriously. Picture James Franco with cornrows, grills, and a huge dollar sign tattooed on his neck, speaking in a dubious accent and ending every other sentence with "y'all." That's how all-up-in-your-face stupid Spring Breakers is. Of course, there's always a chance that it doth protest too much.
And in fact, after that ultra-aggressive introduction that shoves a good fifty different pairs of breasts in your face in under two minutes, Spring Breakers soon proves to be a much more contemplative movie than one might expect. We move from the beaches of Florida to some small town up north, where we meet our bored heroines. Brit (Ashley Benson), Candy (Vanessa Hudgens), and pink-haired Cotty (Rachel Korine) are your stereotypical wild college girls, partying hard, smoking pot, doing the occasional line of coke. Faith (Selena Gomez) is quieter, an apparently tame churchgoing girl whose preacher looks like a somewhat less douchey version of Guy Fieri forever going on about how awesome Jesus is. All four are bored out of their minds and only dream of leaving their dull lives behind, even if only for a short while. Young people bored and dreaming of change; that's been the basis for many a movie, and many a great one, too. It just so happens that the only thing those four can think of to get away from their boring small town and their boring lives is to get on a bus to Florida for Spring Break.
Except the girls don't have enough money for the trip. We watch them sit around listlessly, wander the empty hallways of their dorms, go to parties where the only people there are those who didn't manage to leave for Spring Break. Candy's always carrying a squirt gun which she uses to squirt alcohol into her mouth (in case that wasn't clear already, you can't accuse this movie of being too subtle), which gives her, Brit, and Cotty the idea to rob the local fast food joint to finance their trip. Which they do. With Candy's squirt gun, and a hammer. They brag to Faith about it afterwards, play it up as the coolest, most exciting thing they ever did. They mean it, too. Robbing a fast food restaurant so they can afford to go on Spring Break. This complete lack of ambition, even when committing crime, is kind of depressing.
So the girls get to St. Petersburg, and for a while everything's alright. They party, they drink, they lounge in the pool. Do coke off of each others' bodies. Until they get arrested because, well, even in Florida, coke's illegal. (When the girls are made to stand before the judge, in the bikinis they were wearing when they got arrested, he hilariously concedes that he can't charge them with possession, "because you didn't have anything on your person.") That's when the aforementioned Alien ("Real name's Al, but truth be told, I'm from another planet") shows up, bails them out, and decides that he likes them so much that he wants to make them his right-hand women. Which Brit, Candy, and Cotty are more than happy to be.
In its second half, Spring Breakers has all the trappings of a crime film, including a turf war between Alien and his former best friend turned enemy, Big Arch. But it's not a crime film, not really, not any more than the first half was really a Spring Break movie, or a female version of Project X. The same sense of being adrift with no clear purpose still permeates it all. Korine plays with the chronology, replays the same scenes over and over again, flashes forward to some detail we can't make sense of yet, plays the same dialogue over slightly different images. "Spring Break," Alien keeps repeating. "Spring Break forever." Earlier, Faith complained that she couldn't just pause life, freeze it, to live in the same moment forever. To be on Spring Break forever, as it were, and although her idea of Spring Break differs quite a bit from that of Alien, they're expressing the same feeling, the idea that "normal" life makes no sense at all to them.
It would be easy to see Spring Breakers as an indictment of its characters' pettiness and materialism. The film itself makes it almost too easy. When Alien invites the girls to his home, he shows them his large collection of guns, his countless baseball caps, his shorts that come in every single color. He literally makes them roll around in money, on his bed that's not a bed, "but an art masterpiece." "Look at my shit!" he keeps shouting. "This is the American dream!" Yet he isn't beyond self-awareness, beyond the occasional ironic jab at himself. "I've got blue Kool-Aid!" he says. "I mean, look at my teeth, y'all!" And Franco sells it with a semi-goofy grin, displaying his grills.
No, Korine feels too much sympathy for his characters to be that judgmental. They're messed up and lost and desperately looking for some form of validation, even if they're looking in all the wrong places. "This is the most spiritual place I've ever seen," Faith tells her grandmother on the phone, and she means it. How do you fill a void like that? Later, Alien sits at the piano by his pool, and at the girls' request starts singing Britney Spears's "Everytime". Then Candy, Brit, and Cotty, wearing pink ski masks and armed with shotguns and assault rifles, join in. Korine films it as if it were the most profound thing in the world, and to them it is. That song, as generic as it may be (or maybe because it is so generic), actually speaks to them. Then the scene segues into a slow-motion montage of Alien and the girls attacking some of Big Arch's henchmen, still set to the same song (with Britney actually taking over on vocals), and the whole thing is brutally stripped of all meaning. Until, at the last moment, we come back to Alien and the girls standing by the pool, singing together, watching the sun set. It's fake and tacky, maybe, but it's all they've got.
In the end, that's what Spring Breakers is all about. "If you wanna go home, you can go home," Alien tells Faith when she starts feeling uncomfortable around the gangster and his clique. "But then you'll be home," he adds. Back to square one. Back to the one place she couldn't wait to leave. "Whenever you encounter temptation, God will offer you a way out," the Guy Fieri preacher told her earlier, which would sound like a heavy-handed moral to the film if leaving were obviously the right decision to make. Which of course it is, from our point of view at least. From that of the girls, not so much. Spring Break can't last forever, not even for Alien, not even for Brit and Candy, and it's not where, as Faith believed, the girls can be "who they're supposed to be." Spring Breakers is pretty pessimistic about whether there is even such a place. Maybe Spring Break, even Alien's version of it, really is the best the girls can hope for.
The best films of 2012
Posted by gschmidtcleach in My Best Movies on December 28, 2012
This has been a weird year, movie-wise, for a number of reasons. Reason number one, of course, is that I live in France, and not in America, where the past couple months have seen the release of more prestige movies than the rest of the year combined. No such luck here: December brought Life of Pi and The Hobbit (and Beasts of the Southern Wild, a good six months after its American release), but Lincoln, Zero Dark Thirty, Django Unchained, Cloud Atlas, The Master, and even Silver Linings Playbook will have to wait for 2013 (meanwhile, Richard Linklater's Bernie may never be released here). That's the way distribution's always worked, but this year it seems that more "big" movies didn't make it here in time for Christmas—or it might be that there were more such movies to begin with.
Another, more personal reason is that I simply didn't care all that much for most of the "big" movies we did get (including most of the Cannes lineup). I profoundly disliked Amour (to be honest, I've always been ambivalent, at best, towards Haneke), had huge issues with Life of Pi and Beyond the Hills, and was largely disappointed by Beasts of the Southern Wild, a film I'd been waiting for since Sundance and which turned out to be, as Ignatiy Vishnevetsky so rightly put it, bullshit. Even Holy Motors, acclaimed by critics everywhere, failed to entirely convince me, despite having some of my favorite cinematic moments of the year (including the intermission, which would probably top my list).
Yet in spite of all that, 2012 was still a very good year for film, thanks to a baffling number of strong genre efforts. In fact, 2012 may have been the best year for genre cinema in quite some time—the past two years were very top-heavy, with brilliant movies like Attack the Block, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, or Let Me In, while this year just had so many great genre films. That, to me, more than makes up for the (relative) lack of great prestige movie, and for having to wait until January to see Jessica Chastain kicking ass and Joaquin Phoenix running around like a lunatic.
My top 10 for the year actually has 12 movies on it, because I couldn't get myself to cut two of them, and the whole exercise is completely arbitrary anyway. The rules are the same as last year, and the year before last: any movie released for the first time in France in 2012 is eligible, except for films that were released internationally in 2011 (if you want to see what my list would look like were those films included as well, just head over to the French version of this blog (my top of 2012 list should be up tomorrow, with any luck). As usual, this is of course highly subjective, and if you disagree with my picks, you're probably wrong. Unlike the last two years, when Breathless and A Separation respectively topped my list, 2012 didn't have one film I felt was head and shoulders above the rest (or rather, there was one, but it was one of those 2011 holdovers), and at least all the films in my top 3 could have ended up in first place (and probably would if you asked me on any other day).
10. Robot & Frank/The Deep Blue Sea/The Grey
In Jake Schreier's Robot & Frank, Frank Langella struggles with old age; in Terence Davies's The Deep Blue Sea, Rachel Weisz struggles with the disappointments of life, which never turns out the way we thought it would; and in Joe Carnahan's The Grey, Liam Neeson struggles with his own mortality and with the loss of his wife (a case of reality turning an unsurprising plot development into quite the emotional sucker punch).
Despite their differences in terms of genre and approach (one's a science fiction film about a retired crook and a robot teaming up, another one's a survival movie in which Liam Neeson doesn't quite get to punch wolves in the face), all three films turn out to be unexpectedly layered and heartbreaking, thanks in large part to great performances by their lead actors and, in The Deep Blue Sea's case, by their supporting cast as well. If you're feeling too high on life, try watching all three right after the other, it should bring you right back down to earth.
(Also, this is relevant.)
9. Haywire
Here's the thing: I'm usually no Steven Soderbergh fan. I tend to dislike his ensemble pieces immensely (I hated both Traffic and Contagion, and the Ocean's movies range from mildly annoying to unwatchable), and to like his smaller efforts only marginally better (that being said, Out of Sight's really good). But here's the other thing: I really, really loved the two movies he put out this year. Magic Mike was smart and fun and OMG Channing Tatum's abs, but Haywire was just a great action movie, period (and it also had Channing Tatum, natch). Gina Carano makes for a much more convincing action heroine than pretty much any other actress, the action scenes are brutal and beautiful and shot in a way that actually makes sense, and the script has a ton of fun with meta commentary about the way action films treat women. Simple, elegant, and tough.
8. The Raid: Redemption
Speaking of action, Gareth Evans's The Raid: Redemption (what a dumb subtitle, really) was the adrenaline rush of the year, a relentless onslaught of violence punctuated by the occasional moment of visual poetry. It doesn't get much simpler than "a bunch of cops are trapped in a building and must fight their way out," but Evans milks that set-up for all it's got, staging brutal set piece after brutal set piece, culminating in a two-on-one fight that keeps going for much longer than it has any right to, yet never feels too long. The Raid: Redemption is the kind of film you come out of physically exhausted, as if it was you who'd been getting your ass kicked for two hours.
7. ParaNorman
Brave, Wreck-It Ralph, and even Rise of the Guardians were all good animation films, but Chris Butler and Sam Fell's ParaNorman was by far the best of the bunch. It starts off as a sort of comedic twist on The Sixth Sense, then turns into a PG zombie movie, before going into some genuinely dark and scary places. Like another film a little further down this list, it also has a lot of fun with archetypes and horror tropes. The best thing about ParaNorman, though, is its awesome (as in awe-inspiring) climax, an astonishing sequence of visual bravura that plays out like the most thrilling video game boss fight while keeping the emotional stakes as high as they can be.
6. Paris by Night
Philippe Lefebvre's Paris by Night is an old-fashioned noir, reminiscent of Jean-Pierre Melville's films, and particularly Un Flic (the film's original title, Une Nuit, even seems to be a deliberate Melville homage). For one night, we follow Roschdy Zem, as the commander of the Paris vice unit, as he visits bars, restaurants, and nightclubs, and tries to remain a step ahead of internal affairs and of the crooks that are trying to set him up. This is a moody and surprisingly complex film, and Zem, who seems to play nothing but cops and gangsters these days, delivers a great performance as a man who knows he's doing the wrong thing but can't find a way to do the right one. Not a single shot is fired in Paris by Night, but there's more tension than in almost any other film that came out this year.
5. The Cabin in the Woods
In terms of pure fun, nothing this year beat Drew Goddard's The Cabin in the Woods. Co-written with Joss Whedon, this is a marvel of a meta horror movie and a hilarious puzzle, full of twists and turns on top of more twists, and even more turns. I don't like using the word "clever" to describe a movie, as it often implies shallowness, but The Cabin in the Woods is one hell of a clever film. And, yes, there's no particular profundity to it. It is what it is, but what it is is a ton of fun, and one of the tightest screenplays this side of last year's Attack the Block. Plus, you gotta love the way Goddard embraces the mayhem of the third act (one word: unicorn).
4. Oslo, August 31
From the year's most fun movie to the most devastating. Joachim Trier's Oslo, August 31 is a merciless character study, following 34-year-old Anders, a former drug addict who just got out of rehab. Anders (another one of the year's great performance, by Anders Danielsen Lie) wanders around Oslo, a city he used to know so well, bumping into old friends turned strangers, trying to find a reason to go on living when the world seems to have passed him by entirely. In one of the best scenes of the year, Anders sits in a coffee house and listens to people, imagining what their lives must be like. No one seems able to show Anders the same empathy and compassion. "It'll get better. It'll all work out," he tells his friend Thomas. Then his smile freezes. "Except it won't, you know."
3. Moonrise Kingdom
Perhaps my favorite Wes Anderson movie since Rushmore, Moonrise Kingdom focuses, as usual, on an assorted group of outcasts and sad sacks, from Edward Norton's inept scout master to Bruce Willis's sad (but not dumb) police captain. It's the kids that steal the show, though, and Anderson perfectly captures the awkwardness of adolescence with Sam and Suzy's clumsy attempts at replicating adult courtship, followed by a no less clumsy moment of sexual awakening. The external world, so often a threat in Anderson's films, is eventually integrated into the kids' world rather than the other way around, and even Tilda Swinton's inflexible social services agent (brilliantly named just "Social Services") eventually softens up, making Moonrise Kingdom the most open of all of Anderson's films.
2. Looper
Okay, so maybe Looper, and not The Cabin in the Woods, was the most fun you could have at the movies this year. Rian Johnson's third feature (and second starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is the perfect remedy to all those mindless science fiction blockbusters, a big-budget action movie with a brain—and one hell of a big heart. Like the best time travel movies, Looper isn't so much about time travel itself as about its moral implications, about free will and determinism ("So I changed it" has got to be one of my favorite lines of the year). It's the kind of movie I wish I could see for the first time every time, except it's too much fun to see just how everything fits together.
1. Cosmopolis
If ever there was a movie for the 99%, David Cronenberg's adaptation of the Don DeLillo novel is it. A brutal critique of capitalism run wild, Cosmopolis is set almost entirely in a limo drifting through a Tonronto barely disguised to look like New York going through the apocalypse. Everything in the movie happens on the edges of the screen, because its hero, golden boy Eric Packer (Robert Pattinson), is too bored and self-obsessed to pay attention to the world that's coming crashing down around him—even as he's about to come crashing down with it. The esoteric dialogue ("I don't understand that," Samantha Morton's character keeps repeating in her one scene) and somewhat slow pace make it a tough sell, but Cosmopolis is nothing short of phenomenal, and once again proves that Cronenberg is one of the very best directors working today.
Honorable mentions, in alphabetical order: Anna Karenina, Argo, The Avengers, The Day He Arrives, Holy Motors, Keep the Lights On, Killer Joe, Laurence Anyways, Premium Rush, Magic Mike, Skyfall, The We and the I.


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"She says nothing at all, but simply stares upward into the dark sky and watches, with sad eyes, the slow dance of the infinite stars." ― Neil Gaiman, Stardust
« She who conquered the voice of sound »
"Be strong. Live honorably and with dignity. When you don't think you can, hold on." ― James Frey


text: Greetings, Faire Winds and Following Seas The Raven's Fort ~ Scribe's Guild & Arts/Sciences meeting will be held this Sunday, December 30th from 1:00pm - 6:00pm, at the Fire Station #2 - Community Room, 2190 Sam Houston Avenue, Huntsville, Texas 77340. FYI ~ Mistress Curstaidhe from Stargate will be attending as a guest. For those who are not familiar with her, she designed some of the kingdom award scrolls that are in use today; she has painted many, many, many... charters in the past; she has been one of three Scribal mentor's for me; she introduced the kingdom to the Diapering handout that has been floating around for many years now; etc. Scribal Meeting We will be working on painting the Kindom Charters (help the kingdom build up their supplies of Charters) and a few other various scribal projects. Bring your painting supplies (gouache preferred) &/or some loaner items will be provided. Contact me if you have any questions regarding the Scribe's Guild: ~ HE Chrystal bertasdragonfly at yahoo.com A&S Meeting Anyone wanting to work on their arts/sciences projects they may have are always welcome! regards, HE Chrystal Ariana MacRuari RF Scribe Guild Principal -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://lists.ansteorra.org/pipermail/ravensfort-ansteorra.org/attachments/20121228/b363e660/attachment.htm>


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A perfect combination of our delicious coffee and tasty treats
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1-1.75oz French Vanilla
1-1.75oz English Toffee and Cream
1-1.75oz Hazelnut
1-1.75oz Crème Brulee
1-1.75oz Sumatra Mandheling
1-1.75oz Hawaiian Coconut
1-White CB Logo Ceramic Mug
1- Carr's® Table Water® Crackers with Cracked Pepper
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1-wheel cheese
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*****Please allow an extra week for this item to be shipped when ordering in quantities of 10 or greater.*****
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Russia is a power in Europe, despite having a third world economy, because they spent the last 15 years developing their energy resources. Maybe we should do the same?
Click Here if you Like this Comment 28 persons like this.
I think they have underestimated the push back on this one. Big time.
Click Here if you Like this Comment 27 persons like this.
Meanwhile in the North Dakota oil patch, flaring of natural gas is 29% on private land and 40% on federal land. Why?Because of the permitting red-tape among various federal agencies. http://sayanythingblog.com/entry/flaring-kevin-cramer/
Click Here if you Like this Comment 33 persons like this.
They better talk to their EPA Chief.....
Click Here if you Like this Comment 32 persons like this.
Of course they will, anything to destroy a spot of prosperity in this country.Demonrats should be voted out of power for the next 50 - 100 years. Can´t help but remember when James Carville predicted they would be in power for the next 40 years. Thank goodness he was proven wrong in 2010 and will be proved wrong again in 2014.Hitlery will have no chance whatsoever in 2016 due to the economic tyranny and destruction caused by the Demonrat party.
Click Here if you Like this Comment 33 persons like this.
What did I say? He has this big swing to make up with the Saudis and, for some reason, people thought it was all going to be about the Middle East peace debacle. But it never was. It was about getting him to obstruct the fracking revolution in order to save the Saudi´s bottom line and keep us dependent on foreign oil.This move is not surprising. The president should be impeached and indicted on multiple charges.
Click Here if you Like this Comment 36 persons like this.
The legal procedure of the Clean Air Act says you first establish a safe level for emissions know as the National Ambient Air Quality Standards. Then you identify the counties in the country that are above the standards. Guess what, virtually all of cattle country will be above the NAAQS. Gas at the well head is flared until the collection pipe can be extended to the well head. Early estimates of the amount of methane during the well development process turned out to be a factor of 10 high when people actually measured. All the people who have taken government money to chop up birds with wind turbines or broil them in flight with solar are scared their flow of pork will dry up.And for the twit who wrote this article, VOC stands for Volatile Organic Compound. And the EPA was certain they were a key contributor to smog. About 10 years into the regulatory process they tried to figure out why smog wasn´t getting better. They then realized that they hadn´t considered VOCs from plants and animals. When the models were rerun, they discoved NOx was the real driver of smog and VOCs were inconsequential.
Click Here if you Like this Comment 35 persons like this.
There are two political vectors in the President´s actions: Move the energy sector from Republican hands to Democratic hands even if it destroys the economy; Destroy the economy to please the greens.That´s why it looks so insane.Nothing at all for the people. The people are the enemy.
Click Here if you Like this Comment 30 persons like this.
This is what Obama promised King Abdullah and Putin - we´ll get the EPA to crack down on tracking so the price of oil will go up for you guys - and btw you need to funnel a few hundred million $ to the Democratic campaign kitty.
Click Here if you Like this Comment 19 persons like this.
This article is penned by a truly stupid jurno; who knows nothing of either geology or hydraulic fracturing technology. Oil and methane gas is released by cracking carbon rich shale beds w/pressure from a sand/water slurry, some 10,000+ feet below ground. The residual oil and gas is then brought to the surface through an elaborate network of pipes. Methane gas is separated, cleaned and liquified. It is not flared (burned) which would defeat the core purpose of the technology; to capture both sources of energy!!! Utterly brainless.
Click Here if you Like this Comment 14 persons like this.


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Greg Hatcher, Author at Comics Should Be Good! @ Comic Book Resources - Page 4 of 34
December Cross-Hatchings… In the Stacks
We have this annual holiday ritual in our household. Continue Reading »
Weekend with the Review Pile (Videogames Edition)
Somehow, I wound up with a big stack of books and comics based on videogames here next to my desk and today I'm going to try and get through as many of them as I can. So it's capsule review time again. Continue Reading »
A Holiday Wish List… for 2014
Here's the good news. Comics companies are finally getting around to putting together reprint collections of material we've been agitating for them to do for years. Continue Reading »
A Black Friday Consultation
I don't know if this happens to you, but I get this ALL THE TIME during the holiday season.
I teach comics and cartooning, which means that most of the people I encounter in the workplace are aware that I'm pretty geek-literate in all sorts of quirky areas, and I get questions all the time. But never more than this time of year. Continue Reading »
Saturday In The Stacks, DC Edition
I am rude about a lot of the new books DC's been putting out lately. I'll own it. But it doesn't mean I don't want to like them. I bought two new trade collections from DC this week, in fact, and one of them I liked a lot. The other one struck me as one-stop shopping for everything I really don't care for about the New 52. Continue Reading »
Saturday's Virtual Fisticuffs
Normally I am a reasonable, easygoing person. Today, though, not so much. Continue Reading »
Friday at the End of the Road
This is one of those weird little fan milestones that I not only never expected to actually reach, but I honestly thought it was impossible. Continue Reading »
Housebound on a Blustery Day
Once again, my town is gripped with panic at the thought of experiencing… Weather. Continue Reading »
Halloween Cross-Hatchings
A little of this, a little of that… comics and TV and books, all with a spooky angle, none of which was big enough to warrant its own piece. Continue Reading »
R.I.P. Lou Scheimer
I'm sorry to report that Lou Scheimer, co-founder and president of Filmation Studios, has passed away. He was 84. Continue Reading »
Premiere Week!
It's not quite the big deal it was when I was a kid, but we still get jazzed in our household for the fall television premieres. Continue Reading »
Happy Birthday Ramona Fradon!
Or, as I think of her, the artist who drew MY Aquaman.
Lost Weekend in the Stacks
I never quite get caught up with the books around here.
Continue Reading »
My Summer on Misfit Island
Regular readers will recall that I teach writing and cartooning classes in local schools as part of an after-school arts program. The last couple of years, I've also taught summer school classes in the subject, and that's been a whole different animal. Continue Reading »
Saturday with Illustrator Juan Ortiz
Not strictly comics this week, but comics-adjacent. Continue Reading »


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But things have changed since the mid-1990s; whereas the choice to use a watch in a movie was once a pure wardrobe decision, it's now often the product of contractual marketing agreements. Generally, collectors are most interested in watches from before the era of product placement; it's no surprise that the pieces picked for ad money just aren't as cool. Below, we bring you our eight favorite silver screen timepieces that have made a huge impact on both cinema and the watch world.
Stallone's Panerais
Sean Connery's Bond Submariner
Steve McQueen's Le Mans Monaco
Alec Baldwin's Gold Rolex
Martin Sheen's Apocalypse Now Seiko 6105
Arnold Schwarzenegger's Seiko H558
Christopher Walken's "Hidden" Gold Watch in Pulp Fiction
The Apollo 13 Speedmasters
Subscribe to GP for a daily dose of the best in gear, adventure, design, tech and culture. 5pm sharp.


text:
The KPMG China CSR Report illustrates the interconnectedness of social and environmental issues and the business world, and explores how companies can lead change by integrating these issues into their strategies and operations.
Chinese new energy companies are "going out" to expand their presence in the global market. By investing overseas, these companies are expected to develop new energy portfolios in new markets, avoid trade barriers and transfer overcapacity.
This publication will help you to understand the best option for your business when transitioning to the new revenue standard.
China 360 Volumes bring together a number of previously-released articles and white papers, including some originally published as China 360 articles: a range of China business topics and commentary in one place.
The Global China Practice is pleased to release China 360 Volume 1, a collection of 9 articles released during the past months. Most of these articles were originally released as China 360 articles, but we have included additional articles authored by the Global China Practice research team as well. Together, these materials act as a China business primer, covering a range of topics from basic banquet etiquette to China's new leadership and macro-economic developments. We will release additional volumes of new material once or twice per year.
China 360 is a monthly newsletter produced by KPMG's Global China Practice (GCP) designed to keep readers up-to-date with topical issues in China. Each issue focuses on a separate topic, which may include current economic analysis, analysis of government and policy developments, and tips and practical advice on doing business in China or with Chinese companies. China 360 provides a well-researched point of view, insights and a 'drill down' into China business topics hard to find elsewhere.
Related links
RSS feeds
China in Focus Publications (XML)
© 2014
KPMG Advisory (China) Limited, a wholly foreign owned enterprise in China and KPMG Huazhen (Special General Partnership), a special general partnership in China, are member firms of the KPMG network of independent member firms affiliated with KPMG International Cooperative ("KPMG International"), a Swiss entity. All rights reserved.
© 2014 KPMG, a Hong Kong partnership and a member firm of the KPMG network of independent member firms affiliated with KPMG International Cooperative ("KPMG International"), a Swiss entity. All rights reserved.
The KPMG name, logo and "cutting through complexity" are registered trademarks or trademarks of KPMG International.
KPMG International Cooperative ("KPMG International") is a Swiss entity. Member firms of the KPMG network of independent firms are affiliated with KPMG International. KPMG International provides no client services. No member firm has any authority to obligate or bind KPMG International or any other member firm vis-à-vis third parties, nor does KPMG International have any such authority to obligate or bind any member firm.


text:
Written by:
He promised forever his love it would last
and now I"m alone here with only the past.
I try not to cry I think only of good
He said I am wrong and I misunderstood.
It's easy to dwell on the things that we said
recounting the questions all here in my head.
Perhaps if I said this or tried to do that
His love would be mine now in place and in tact.
I wonder dear God will this pain leave my heart?
It seems like forever alone here apart.
The couples walk past me, I lower my head
It hurts just to see them, my soul may be dead.
What happens to life that gets tattered and torn?
I wake up so tired and helpless and worn.
I miss his blue eyes and his blond wavy hair
It's hard to believe that he just doesn't care.
Oh please day go quickly and turn into night
It's then while I'm sleeping the pain it takes flight..


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Taiwan High Speed Rail turned the latest train into the world's first Cartoon Network theme train.
Had a great time riding it, though somehow it seems that parents are more excited then the kids…
Source: rorowshell
my parents literally never gave me the sex talk they just sent me to public school
(via maliciouslyspoopy)
Source: harrysthefather
In order to enjoy a marginal piece of dignity once enjoyed by Americans, travelers can now pay the TSA $85.00 to "trust" them and not subject them to the same degree of harassment that everyone else endures while trying to travel.
The TSA's "PreCheck" program is expected to reap in about $255 million in 2013 alone. Those enrolled in the 'trusted traveler' program don't have to remove their shoes, jackets and belts during screening. Members can also keep their laptop computers and approved liquids in their bags.
After stealing your RIGHTS, they attempt to SELL them back to you as PRIVILEGES. Papers, please!
As usual, the poor are the suspects; the poor are the criminalized. If you have money, you can get away with anything…
(via theveganarchist)
Source: facebook.com
I just shed a single tear
(via lanalovve)
Source: paulraeside.com
Those big lesbian crushes are so tough sometimes
(via damn-those-nargles)
Source: hiddenbehindasmile
Make a "laser grid" by taping yarn to the walls and let your kids try to get though it. Also great for parties and laughing at your friends.
I mean really, who doesn't see those lasers on tv and think it would be fun to try…
Whos up for drunk lazer mazes? Lolol!
I'm doing this in my apartment on my 21st bday and no one can stop me~
Officially throwing a spy themed party and you have to get through this to get to the alcohol.
oh tumblr
(via maliciouslyspoopy)
Source: inspirations4yourlife
Rupert Smissen.
Sparse yet complex illustrations by Rupert Smissen:
(via supersonicart)
if you ever think mythology is boring or serious business or whatever shit
just remember that cerberus, the hell-hound and guard dog of the underworld, comes from the root indo-european word ḱerberos, which evolved into the greek word kerberos, which got changed to cerberus when it went from greek to latin
ḱerberos means "spotted"
that's right
hades, lord of the dead, literally fucking named his pet dog spot
(via maliciouslyspoopy)
Source: bemusedlybespectacled
(via xburnyourlifedownx)
Source: howcuriousisbicurious
Giraffe Calf Stands Tall at Knuthenborg Park
In the late hours of June 27th, Knuthenborg Park in Denmark welcomed a new female Giraffe calf, named Damisi. Damisi was born to mother Dora and father Timon, who also have a second two-year-old calf.
See more photos of Damisi and learn about her birth at ZooBorns!
That sass
This is 100% what everyone does in their room when they are alone, and this girl filmed it. Bravo.
what just happened
this is one of my favourite things ever on the internet I literally sobbed
you have to stop scrolling and play this I MEAN IT
bless this individual.
(via pimpcup)
Infographic: Scenes From The Censored Documentary
Gif 1:
"Mobility in the United States lags most other advanced industrial democracies."
Gif 2:
"There's always been a gap between the wealthiest in our society and everyone else. But in the last 30 years, something changed. That gap became the Grand Canyon."
Gif 3:
"This is what America's economic pie looked like in the decades after World War ll (1947-1977). Income gains were share by everyone with big portions going to average Americans. But since the late 1970's, the bottom 90% have seen their share of the pie completely devoured by the top 1%."
Video Source: Park Avenue: Money, Power and The American Dream
I want to watch this!


text:
Are you a TV Fanatic?
Sign up for our daily newsletter to receive personalized television news for free!
- Naomi and Jen are competing for Preston.
- Silver confides in Liam about the breast cancer test.
- Ivy wants Diego to be her boyfriend.
- Ivy and Diego are coerced into selling art for the gallery he vandalized.
- Everyone is at the Desert Valley music festival.
- Dixon got offered a record deal.
- Vanessa tries to sabotage Adrianna for trying to reveal her shady business.
who performed in the desert valley music festival?


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The Enthusiast - Special #3: That Would Never Work On A Bear
After our wonderfully received WrestleMania special earlier in the year, Kieran is rejoined by Matthew Gibbon for a rundown of the SummerSlam card.
View From the Gutters: Jim Henson's Tale of Sand
- by ThanosCopter in Podcasts
View From the Gutters discusses the award winning OGN.
The Outhouse Pirate Podcast Episode 173
DCHDSS Edition
Why I Love Comics #145 Post Boston Comic Con show with George Amaru!
- by Eric Ratcliffe in Podcasts
On this episode of the podcast, George and I discuss our favorite things about this years Boston Comic Con, tease our next big show together, talk about Super Megafest a bit and just so much...
View From the Gutters: Bite Club
- by Christian Hoffer in Podcasts
The Outhouse welcomes View from the Gutters as our newest syndicated podcast.
The Enthusiast - Episode 27: Tucker's Law
We've got a fairly indie-heavy show this week, with indie music, indie films and the indiest comic we'll probably ever speak about.
The Outhouse Pirate Podcast Episode 172
This week: Wrath of Cons Edition
WILC's #144 with Jason Inman!.mp3
- by Eric Ratcliffe in Podcasts
On this episode of the podcast Eric is joined by talented youtuber and comedian, Jason Inman!
The Enthusiast - Episode 26: There's Always A Lighthouse
After last week's packed show, we're playing catch-up with a bunch of things we wanted to feature, but didn't have the time to get around to.
The Outhouse Pirate Podcast Episode 171
This week: Adamantium Monger Edition
Why I Love Comics #143 with Gus Fink!
- by Eric Ratcliffe in Podcasts
On this episode of the podcast I was joined by aawesome artist, art toy creator and all around awesome creative guy Gus Fink!
The Enthusiast - Episode 25: Smashy Smashy Egg Men
San Diego Comic-Con was this past weekend, we've got OPINIONS and Kieran goes on record with an almost unbelievable statement with regards to the upcoming Superman/Batman film.
The Outhouse Pirate Podcast Episode 170
This week: Age of SDCC Edition
Weekly Chirp Vlog 3
Reviews for Marvel books from 7-17-13.
Why I Love Comics #142 with Inspector Spacetime himself Travis Richey!
- by Eric Ratcliffe in Podcasts
On this episode of the podcast Eric sits down and talks with comedian and actor Travis Richey about his role as Community's inspector Spacetime!


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vaser lipo on athletic 60 yr. old male results?
- maypo
- colorado
- 3 years ago
any 60 yr. old athletic males have a vaser lipo on abdomen recently? Thank you. mark
Comments (1)
Hi Mark,
Welcome to RealSelf. Here are a few users who fit the bill. You can contact any of them directly through their profile pages:
- LIPO'd and LOVE IT - Saint Louis, MO
- Gain with Some Pain
- Vaser High Def on Stomach and Flanks - Swelling Normal After 3 Months?
Have you had Vaser, or are you thinking about it?
Hope this helps!
- Reply


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i never thought i would admit to this…
yeah, i like the outfits (and come on, who doesn't like "starlet or streetwalker"?), but joan rivers is so goddamn funny, and totally inappropriate, that i just can't resist. the absolute best part is watching kelly osbourne laugh so hard she's nearly crying.
also, it comes on after the soup, which is how i ended up watching it in the first place. so whatever.