Tig Notaro’s genius has always rested in her innate sense of humor and impeccable comedic timing. She calls out the absurdity of any situation with a Southerner’s warmth and courtesy. None of that uptight, anxious, Northern-neurotic yelling here. She keeps her cool so well, Tig may have changed the way people in our culture deal with the Big C. Check out these ten reasons why you should be diggin her scene.
Photo Credit: Cinema Squid
What if gene splicing and genetic manipulation were allowed to be explored in this country, bar none? David Cronenberg’s now classic remake of THE FLY paves way for some big questions regarding human intervention with nature. Whatever position you side with in the great Genetic Manipulation debate, here are ten reasons why you should consider the issues our political system and culture would face if humans and insects shared the same body.
Don’t miss THE FLY airing Tuesday, October 30 at 9p on Sundance Channel.
This is one of the rare occasions where we don’t think you need another reason–let alone ten–to love someone. That’s because we’re talking about the lovably unlovable Marc Maron. Check out a few reasons to get into America’s favorite neurotic and host of the wildly successful WTF Podcast and find out why Marc is the
This is one of the rare occasions where we don’t think you need another reason–let alone ten–to love someone. That’s because we’re talking about the lovably unlovable Marc Maron. Check out a few reasons to get into America’s favorite neurotic and host of the wildly successful WTF Podcast and find out why Marc is the
English author Evelyn Waugh’s conversion to Catholicism in 1930 was as big a news item in its day as Tom Cruise’s Oprah-couch moment professing love (to a woman) was in ours. It made the newspaper. I don’t need to remind you of TomKat’s fate; but unlike that ill-fated union, Waugh departed this life dedicated to his religion. What’s the connection, beyond Oprah and her book club? For me it’s the subtext of homosexuality and the belief in a higher power that endures in our culture. And in Julian Jarrold’s BRIDESHEAD REVISITED — airing Sunday at 8P — the elephant in Waugh’s novel is handled as tenderly as possible.
It certainly helped Gillian Jacobs to be born with beautiful, round eyes; perfect cheekbones; full lips; and a head of blonde hair that would make any young woman in Hollywood a bombshell. But it’s her work ethic, brave choices in acting roles, and charm that’s turnedm her into one of the most talked about starlets around. So even if the future of celebrated television series Community is still unclear, get familiar with some of Gillian’s other roles. Here are ten reasons to go mad for Gillian, and to get into her cheering section.
It certainly helped Gillian Jacobs to be born with beautiful, round eyes; perfect cheekbones; full lips; and a head of blonde hair that would make any young woman in Hollywood a bombshell. But it’s her work ethic, brave choices in acting roles, and charm that’s turnedm her into one of the most talked about starlets around. So even if the future of celebrated television series Community is still unclear, get familiar with some of Gillian’s other roles. Here are ten reasons to go mad for Gillian, and to get into her cheering section.
Piecing apart the broader coming-of-age themes in Mike Mills’ THUMBSUCKER may not be a fruitful exercise. I’m not saying the film isn’t worth discussion or parsing; not at all. There’s just a more diplomatic (read: cute) way of celebrating the director’s feature-length debut. Like this: Keanu Reeves plays a New Age orthodontist who, for a change, is in on the joke. Doesn’t that already sound more intriguing?
Piecing apart the broader coming-of-age themes in Mike Mills’ THUMBSUCKER may not be a fruitful exercise. I’m not saying the film isn’t worth discussion or parsing; not at all. There’s just a more diplomatic (read: cute) way of celebrating the director’s feature-length debut. Like this: Keanu Reeves plays a New Age orthodontist who, for a change, is in on the joke. Doesn’t that already sound more intriguing?
Anyone can make a bad film, but it takes considerable craft, talent and personality to make something intentionally B-grade that’s really, really good. So what Brian De Palma does in the 1970s bouillabaisse of American culture PHANTOM OF THE PARADISE (playing tonight at 12:20A) is nothing short of a brilliant hot mess, if not the template for great schlock.
Feeling trapped in your job by this ersatz excuse of an economy we’ve been slumming with for half a decade? You’re not alone, but you’re also not as cornered as you think. If you have the drive and passion but just need a little inspiration, there’s still plenty of opportunity to get a job that suits you. Here are a few examples of people who made major changes midway into a career. Sometimes you just have to say screw it and pursue what makes you happy.
Homosexuality is such a political hot potato these days — what with television shows about gay couples and surrogates popping up, and transsexualism being so popular amongst the youth — that people are drawing lines in the discussion. But polarization happens to be taking the place of the great gray space where, I think, most people’s sexuality resides. And that’s a drag. The uproar is having a negative effect with the absurd notion that being bi-curious is wishy-washy, not firm enough of a position for either side. Like, what ever happened to appreciating a good ol’ B.U.G.?
We’re all familiar with the proverb, “You can take the boy out of the country, but you can’t take the country out of the boy,” or some abstraction thereabouts. The phrase certainly proves true in BREAKFAST ON PLUTO, in which Patrick “Kitten” Braden (Cillian Murphy), possessed of an irrepressible spirit that gets him into one predicament after another, is unable — and simply does not want — to hide what he is from the world. This sort of story is usually reserved for films about underdogs the general audience relates to and celebrates: ROCKY, LUCAS, Fanny Brice in FUNNY GIRL, even Holly Golightly in another BREAKFAST, this one at Tiffany’s. But it’s much rarer to find in a queer protagonist — especially one with an intrepid sense of fashion.
That Joy Division was able to lay a groundwork for experimental rock music that still resonates today is no surprise. Though it is no small feat. And much of it had to do with frontman Ian Curtis, who had the talent, discipline and mortal anxiety to convey a sentiment in his music that has influenced artists as diverse as Talking Heads, Sleater-Kinney, Sonic Youth, U2, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Danny Brown. Anton Corbijn’s film CONTROL, which airs tonight at 8P, sheds light on the brief and dark life of Ian Curtis, who left the world his legacy at the spry age of 23.
Photo Credit: Flickr
It’s tricky to predict what industries are impervious to a recession. Even organized labor’s future seems uncertain in ways. But here are a few jobs, off the beaten path, that have proven to keep workers afloat during stressful times, like the ones we’re experiencing right now. See if any of them speak to you.
Leland Bobbé’s latest photographic series is pushing the cultural theory of camp — best addressed by Susan Sontag — a step further. “Half-Drag… A Different Kind of Beauty” provides us with an up-close and intimate look at the transformation process gay drag queen performers undergo to create their stage personalities. It also reveals the humanity that lies beneath the surface.
What started as a youthful expression in the quasi-democratic republic of Russia has turned into an international pop scandal. On February 21, a punk band consisting of three women did what — in my opinion — only oppressed citizens feeling they have nothing to lose and everything to gain would dare do. The young women, dressed in vibrant colored outfits, donning balaclavas, stormed the altar at the Christ the Savior Cathedral in Moscow to perform their song/prayer “Mother of God, Drive Putin Out.” They were arrested and have been imprisoned for the past five months. Sentencing for their act is scheduled for August 17, but it’s looking like more like it’s Putin’s regime that’s up for scrutiny among his own people and the global community.
What do a communist Southeast Asian Third World country and a landlocked republic with a history of corruption in Africa have in common? Gay Pride, naturally.
David Lynch is having a bit of a moment. Yes, it’s outside of the film world, but of course it still has all of Hollywood (and us) intrigued. The surrealist director — whose credits include BLUE VELVET, LOST HIGHWAY, ERASERHEAD and MULHOLLAND DRIVE — has a naughty love for women, organic coffee, quinoa and, not surprisingly, champagne, which led to his collaboration with Dom PĂ©rignon.
Gucci has chosen Blake Lively to be the new face of the company’s couture line, Gucci Premiere. And in an attempt to establish our current times as just as chic as any before, creative director Frida Giannini called upon the talents of Danish director — and Ryan Gosling’s go-to in Hollywood — Nicolas Winding Refn to direct a short film accompanying the launch of the campaign with the SAVAGES star in the lead.
Trying to explain why Chris Marker should be a household name to the average cinephile is a harder task than you think. For starters he was as painfully private as Vivian Maier, if not more, sans the nanny duties. But he seemed to play the part of reluctant pedagogue, which comes with being resistant to the press and social grandstanding, fairly well. And like a true introvert, he didn’t leave the many clues to his personal life that our culture has come to require in order to appreciate a director’s work.
There’s a time and place for nationalism in fashion, albeit usually an ironic one that makes for a relevant statement. A perfect example: the U.S. flag-dress by D Squared that Ke$ha wore in V magazine. A terrible example: the dress Katy Perry wore for her Independence Day performance. We’re not even going there. But with the spirit of the Summer Olympic Games every leap year, we embrace a fresh and finite sense of national pride, adorning ourselves, and our fellow countrymen, in patriotic attire that otherwise would border on jingoism. Fortunately, countries have talented resources within the fashion community to design outfits appropriate to the opening ceremony, as well as the games themselves.
The Hotel Ritz in Paris is closing for renovations at the end of the month. In case you’re wondering which piece of property we’re referring to — the name is used liberally these days — we defer to history. It’s the hotel located in Place VendĂ´me. The one Coco Chanel called “ma maison” for nearly 40 years. Her atelier was on Rue Cambon, the street behind the famous square. And the Rococo-style manor — one of the major icons for such a period of design — so ingratiated itself to her residency that a rear lift was designed for a seamless commute between work and play.
With summer off and running and temperatures through the roof, it’s time we round out all the blockbuster activity and over-hyped, industry-funded forms of entertainment with what the season is really built for: semi-inappropriate decisions made with old and “new” friends during long weekends on the shore — all set to hip music. It’s as close to a consequence-free environment as any post-college adult trying to make art out of their life can get. So re-up your catalog with these music suggestions that will keep your days and nights hotter than the weather.