Dear Clusterflock
What is the worst film you have ever seen?
Real Life Tron
It takes a reasonably high degree of geekery (depending on standards), but the story is pretty fantastic (via):
One of my favorite movies as a kid was Tron, the early 1980’s film about a computer programmer who gets “digitized” and sucked into a computer world inhabited by personified computer programs. In the film, the protagonist joins a group of resistant programs in an effort to take down the oppressive Master Control Program (MCP), a rogue piece of software which had evolved, acquired a thirst for power, and was attempting to take over the Pentagon’s computer systems.
In one of the most exciting scenes in the film, the hero programs race in light cycles, which were two-wheeled motorcycle-like vehicles that left walls in their wake. One of the protagonists forced an enemy cycle to crash into the arena’s wall, leaving a gaping hole. The heroes dispatched their opponents and escaped through the hole to freedom – the first step on their way to take down the MCP.
When I watched that movie, I had no idea that I would unwittingly recreate the Tron world years later, rogue programs and all, with an Apple IIgs computer.
A Collection of Vintage Film Posters
Have You Seen Religulous?
We saw it this afternoon at the Magnolia, here in Dallas. The theater was full, and it was being shown on two screens. It’s a splendid film, and what a lift it gave us to be among those who are willing to look at absurdity and see it for what it is. I imagine many will say: “I thought it was great–except for the parts about Christianity.” This speaks to a central point of the film, which is that believers of all sorts are ready to laugh at and ridicule the beliefs of others, even as they show themselves to be blind to the incredible aspects of their own. I hope this film encourages more people to reject the thought that “all doubt (and questioning) is of the devil.” But failing that–I hope it brings a renewed sense of purpose to those who already see the dangers represented by beliefs that undermine the power of reason while reveling in the prospect of a looming apocalypse.
dear clusterflock
Could you be a porn star?
The Waldo Ultimatum
(via Coudal)
solitary bees, 70
What’s a person supposed to do with all this stuff after they’re gone?
Do you have sisters?
No.
It would be easier if you had sisters…. Do you know how to play?
No.
She picks up a piece, looks at him.
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Slacker Uprising
Michael Moore’s new film is available as a free download.
“Slacker Uprising” takes place in the wake of “Fahrenheit 9/11,” during the run-up to the 2004 election, as I traveled for 42 days across America, visiting 62 cities in a failed attempt to remove George W. Bush from office. My goal was to help turn out a record number of young voters and others who had never voted before. (That part was a success. Young adults voted in greater numbers than in any election since 18-year-olds were given the right to vote. And the youth vote was the only age group that John Kerry won.)
(thanks, Maggie)
Paul Newman dies at 83
With his strong, classically handsome face and piercing blue eyes, Newman was a heartthrob just as likely to play against his looks, becoming a favorite with critics for his convincing portrayals of rebels, tough guys and losers. “I was always a character actor,” he once said. “I just looked like Little Red Riding Hood.”
Newman had a soft spot for underdogs in real life, giving tens of millions to charities through his food company and setting up camps for severely ill children. Passionately opposed to the Vietnam War, and in favor of civil rights, he was so famously liberal that he ended up on President Nixon’s “enemies list,” one of the actor’s proudest achievements, he liked to say.
Bruno: Delicious Journeys Through America for the Purpose of Making Heterosexual Male
Sasha Baron Cohen was escorted from a fashion show in Milan on Friday.
After a few minutes of darkness while Baron Cohen, or Bruno, was escorted off the catwalk, the show started again. Models had kept their cool but the designer was visibly upset when she appeared at the end of the show.
Aguirre, the Wrath of God
I just watched the Werner Herzog film last night. The movie is slow and plodding much like the river the conquistadors themselves were fighting against, but you should not let the pacing deter you. Klaus Kinski, who plays Aguirre, alone makes the film worth while.
Plus the film itself has some interesting history:
The camera used to shoot the film was stolen by Herzog from the Munich Film School. Years later, Herzog recalled:
“It was a very simple 35mm camera, one I used on many other films, so I do not consider it a theft. For me, it was truly a necessity. I wanted to make films and needed a camera. I had some sort of natural right to this tool. If you need air to breathe, and you are locked in a room, you have to take a chisel and hammer and break down a wall. It is your absolute right.”
Below is the first ten minutes to wet your palate (I know for a fact you can stream this on netflix):
solitary bees, 69
You ever think of how words hold special meaning for each person like there’s a shape a word makes that makes sense to you and it’s maybe just a feeling or a color? Something private that only makes sense to you?
He gets up and unties her.
It is sunny afternoon.
Miley Cyrus Fires Disney
“It seemed like we were doing our job and getting along with Miley,” said Disney senior spokesdwarf, Obvious. “Now we’re hurt, angry, and confused. We’d like to punch her in the throat but she is just so damned cute.”
Tensions between Ms. Cyrus and Disney had been escalating for months amid rumors of the teen phenom agreeing to appear in a cheesy cinematic adaptation of a cheesy Nicholas Sparks novel, and as a young Carrie Bradshaw in the highly anticipated Sex and the City prequel, Heavy Petting and the City.
Cinema of Dreams, Dreams of Cinema
I dreamt about watching a film with Alek, but I cannot for the life of me recall whether it was a dream-version of an actual film or whether it was an imaginary film we watched.
solitary bees, 68
We hear the sound of Jeremy’s voice talking softly in the distance.
My father was a strange bird. Sort of a weird mix of Calvinistic Protestant and secular progressive populist. These elements were always at war within him I think — the desire to do the most good in a common sense way for the average person and a strict adherence to a set of internal principles that made perfect sense to him.
What about your mother?
What about my mother…. Well, that’s a different equation entirely. She always sort of hated my father in a way. Saw their relationship as some sort of obligation. I think she kind of liked it that way I suppose. A contract she could martyr herself to. On some level she shaped me into what she wanted from him. Or at least she tried to. It took me a long time to figure this out — I still don’t think that knot’s completely untied. How about you?
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Werner Herzog’s Stroszek
I’ve made an important discovery about animal magnetism.
Also, separated at birth: Bruno Schleinstein and Chris Pontius.
Sheila
We watched Withnail & I tonight, having put it in our queue based on comments you made about it.
Thank you.
I find cauliflower infinitely more beautiful than the rose.
a gallery of nicolas cage hairstyles
solitary bees, 67
He has been hunting. It is a bright, clear day and he is on his way home. While he is gone, she has written a note on a piece of paper she has folded into an airplane and tried to throw out the window. Three or four of them made it to various parts of the floor but as he is walking toward the house one of them makes it out the window. He watches it sail above the garden, through the air, into the sunlight. When he gets to it, he picks it up, noticing that there is something written on it. He unfolds the paper.
Fuck it.
He folds the airplane into squares, looks at the window, and tucks it into his back pocket.
Celebrities Struggling to Make Ends Meet
Some of the most prominent and glamorous celebrities are now forced to order their domestic staff to serve frozen creamed orphan on toast points or canned poached breast of bald eagle instead of fresh.
Meanwhile, average Americans who are not famous or popular or attractive are subsisting on diets of wienie water, dust bunnies, and grass clippings.
Dang I need this
Burn After Reading comes out today.
Eveready Harton
[Not remotely safe for work.]
Created anonymously by a group of professional animators in about 1929, the silent short Eveready Harton in Buried Treasure is a gleeful exploration of the penetrative arts. The four-and-a-half-minute short follows the travails of the uncomfortably well-endowed title character as he wanders a barren landscape in search of satisfaction. Along the way, he encounters a self-pleasuring maiden, various sexually aroused animals, a surprised husband, and a donkey-humping farmer, whom Harton challenges to a duel. A penis duel.
Via Panopticist.
solitary bees, 67
I love you, Karen.
What? Shut up, Jeremy. Stick it in.
Kubrick films you should see if you haven’t
2001: Space Odyssey
Barry Lyndon
Paths of Glory
solitary bees, 66
I want you to pull over, okay?
What?
I want you to pull the car over.
Is everything okay?
Yeah, absolutely.
Does it matter where?
Sort of.
She touches his hair.
Are you serious?
Of course I’m serious.