into the blue memory

I'm getting much more mileage outta this LEON Natalie Portman icon than I originally thought I would. Hmm. This is what I get for having my brother home, for whom I can test out all new manner of cocktails.

I probably shouldn't do this while gin-drunk for the first time, as I just procured a large bottle of Bombay Sapphire and let me tell you, gin is an unforgiving mistress... but I shall proceed nonetheless. And, of course, I'll likely edit it the second I read it tomorrow morning with more sober eyes, as is the wont of the drunk-poster.

Seriously, I just made one single Blue Moon martini (six parts gin to one part blue curacao... but without vermouth, it's not really a martini, is it?), and I'm wrecked for the night. I'm not really drunk-drunk, but rest assured, one drink in and I am *done.* I don't know if I'll be able to handle a full gin martini again for awhile. I've seen first-hand what gin does to a man, and damn if it doesn't, as Milk and Cheese once proclaimed, make a man mean.


Anyway, onto the meme:

List six songs you are into right now. No matter what the genre, whether they have words, or even if they're any good, but they must be songs you're really enjoying now. Post these instructions in your LJ along with your six songs and so on and so forth ...

I also see fit to add commentary to these pieces, in the hope that it will persuade others to seek this music out. Chances are you can probably find them used in youtube videos if you look.

1.) Not My Slave- Oingo Boingo
-- A joyous clap-along ode to equal opportunity relationships. Like several Oingo Boingo songs, it makes me want to sing along to a full-blown choreographed musical ala "Every Sperm is Sacred" or something out of "Ferris Bueller's Day Off." Some toe-tappingly, ass-kickingly, 80's tasticly geeky nerd rock awesomeness, and there ain't anything better for that than Danny Elfman and Oingo Boingo.

2.) Blind as a Bat- Meat Loaf
-- His best song in ten years, and rather un Jim-Steinman-ish to boot! I hope he performs it when I see him live on April 1st. Anyone wanna come with? *come hither eyes*

3.) Requiem for a Dream Theme (Two Towers Trailer Remix)- Clint Mansell and the Kronos Quartet
-- The most ass-kicking piece of music I know. Every time I hear it, it makes me want to have a sword fight in a clock tower during a thunderstorm. For fun, try playing it over virtually any youtube video. It makes everything dramatic! For example, try playing it over the video for Peter Gabriel's "The Barry Williams Show." Hi-larity, I assure you. I don't know what's more disturbing about that video: the torrents of blood or Peter's beard. But seriously, this music is awesome. It's what made the LOTR: TTT trailer so utterly ass-kicking while the ROTK trailer was just "pretty fucking cool."

4.) Ghost Love Score- Nightwish
-- Sort of the flip side to the Requiem Remix. It's cheesy, over-the-top Finnish epic metal, but I have come to love it. I discovered it two days ago, and I must have listened to it twenty times today. I cannot defend this, but rather love it in my shame. I hummed it to myself as a light snowfall began to drift down while I walked through the streets of Georgetown. Why, I'm listening to it right now. I've listened to it three times over the course of writing this entry! That said, the singer's voice is lovely but kinda weak. This kind of piece needs a real *belter.* I dunno if she qualifies, but I'd love to hear Mo sing this. I bet she could bring the frickin' house down.

5.) It Only Makes Me Laugh- Danny Elfman
-- Who the hell knew Danny Elfman did a solo album in the early 80's (entitled So-Lo, and featuring most of the members of Oingo Boingo, therefore making it the "lost" Boingo album), aside from those who heard his excellent song "Gratitude" on the BEVERLY HILLS COP soundtrack? This album is a lost gem, each song a little piece of Elfman 80's magic, but this particular song has stood out for me. The man is a genius, a sorely underappreciated genius, at least for his non-soundtrack stuff.

6.) Love Should- Moby
-- Oh sure, everyone loved Moby when "Play" came out. And then he released is follow-up, "18," which most people hated, and thus Moby began to disappear into the background again. As such, no one noticed when he released the album "Hotel," which I sometimes think is superior to "Play." It's mostly original material rather than sampling and remixes, and it really benefits from that. "Love Should" is just but one lovely song on an excellent and under-listened album.

And now, I sleep. After I watch "The Barry Williams Show" set to the Requiem for a Dream theme one more time. Which is all the more surreally appropriate, due to the fact that the "Barry Williams" video stars Christopher McDonald of REQUIEM FOR A DREAM fame as the titular Jerry Springer-style host.

If you're looking for any of the above music, hit me up and I'll do my best to hook you up with a track or two. Because I live to spread the love.

Aardman's lost, return of Ed Exley, and Lynchian goodness (?)

It's bad enough that FLUSHED AWAY got dicked-over in terms of attention (CARS gets nominated for an Oscars?! Fucking Pixar's name recognition for all their other films that are actually excellent). I mean, in fairness to Dreamworks, I think it wasn't entirely their fault; I saw tons of promotional material for it at McDonald's and such. Regardless, since they're not sufficiently competing with Disney/Pixar, Dreamworks has canceled their deal with Aardman halfway through. Word is they may be going for Nickelodeon instead.

This is a real bummer. I can only hope that Pixar will step in and fund Aardman. Can you imagine what a powerhouse that would be? Two of the greatest (or, depending on how you look at it, perhaps the only two *good*) major animation houses working together? Now if we can just get some good 2-D hand-drawn movies back.



In other news, L.A. CONFIDENTIAL and NARC are two of my favorite movies of all time, and are both brilliant cop films to say the least. So you can imagine my wonder and joy when I learned that NARC director Joe Carnahan is going to be directing the "sequel" to L.A. CONFIDENTIAL (in that L.A. is part three of a quartet, with THE BLACK DAHLIA being part one), WHITE JAZZ. And considering that novel, which I still need to read, features the return of my very favorite character from L.A., Ed Exley, I had to wonder what place Guy Pearce might have. CHUD.com ran the following story:

In the fall we brought you the news that Joe Carnahan would be directing an adaptation of White Jazz, James Ellroy’s sequel to LA Confidential. Later it was announced that George Clooney would be starring as dirty cop Dave Klein, sending interest in the film through the roof. Carnahan has said that he would like to see Guy Pearce return as Ed Exley, a character he played in Curtis Hanson’s film version LA Confidential who makes his return in Jazz.

But does Pearce want to come back? He’s not too sure. I asked him about it today at the New York City press conference for his new movie, Factory Girl, where he plays Andy Warhol.

"It’s been mentioned to me, but I haven’t read the script yet,” he said. “I ultimately don’t feel hugely compelled to revisit any character I’ve played before, really – but having said that it would depend on how it was realized, I guess.”

Word is that the script is great, and Exley has a pretty large role, so it would be great to have Pearce back. Somehow I imagine that with a look at the script – and a decent paycheck – Guy Pearce will be very happy to get back into the LAPD.

Here's hoping.



And finally, due to the magic of youtube, I've found a long-out-of-print David Lynch classic, "Industrial Symphony No. 1: The Dream of the Broken Hearted." Now, before you watch, bear in mind... this is David Lynch. That fact will either lure you in or turn you away.

There's thing one girl I've known for almost eight years who I met at a Folger Shakespeare class. We bonded on our love of David Lynch, and so, knowing that, it isn't as weird when I say that during our few hang-outs I showed her PERFECT BLUE, TITUS, THE ICEMAN COMETH, and this. Maybe that's why, even though I will likely have the hugest crush on her for the rest of my life, we never did get together. Regardless, she loved them and, if you enjoy David Lynch, you'll love this too.

Consider this kind of a TWIN PEAKS musical, especially since some of those songs actually appear in here. It's split into five parts. Enjoy if you can. If your brain melts, don't say I didn't warn you.