links for 2006-05-29
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“The Bible II: Heretic Boogaloo”
links for 2006-05-28
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“Mr. Rogers passionate plea for Public Broadcasting: ‘69″
links for 2006-05-27
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“To ‘do an Amir’
To con money out of someone, lie or be otherwise dishonest, only to face ritual humiliation on a worldwide scale.”
links for 2006-05-24
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‘“Delicious secret #1: the crust is full of sausage.” OK, but that really stretches the definition of the word “secret,” now doesn’t it. But there is another. “Delicious secret #2: beneath the ring of sausage is a layer of bacon. And tucked be
Sofia Coppola is a Talentless Hack
The best thing she’s ever done in her career is have her daddy slap her name on cans of cheap champagne.
Now she’s promoting her movie about Marie Antoinette. Which stars Kirsten Dunst. And has an eighties soundtrack. That’s 1980s, not 1780s.
Now, that certainly sounds like an abomination, no? But get this — the movie doesn’t even show the bitch getting her head chopped off! That’s the whole point of the story!
So add ‘apologist for the French Monarchy’ to the reasons why Sofia Coppola sucks. Though I guess it makes sense, since she’s been the beneficiary of aristocratic nepotism her whole life.
(via Edward Champion, who has become my one stop shop for bad news about this movie)
Update: French critics agree — boos and catcalls at Cannes! And while I knew Sofia cast her cousin Jason Schwartzmann in it, I had no idea that it was in the role of Louis Bourbon. Quelle horreur!
Monday Morning Shill: Red Weather by Pauls Toutonghi
Well, my old friend Pauls had gone and done it — become a published novelist! As of tomorrow you should be able to wander into most any bookstore and pick up a copy of his debut, Red Weather (or just buy it online at Powell's). Congratulations, Pauls! I've known the cat since high school, and he's been writing personally and professionally since he was a wee lad. From the Publisher's Weekly review:
Toutonghi's tragicomic debut novel paints a loving, cockeyed picture of the Soviet immigrant experience in the twilight of the Cold War. Yuri Balodis, a painfully thin, bookish 15-year-old living in Milwaukee with his parents, narrates with adolescent angst tempered by retrospective wisdom. Proud to have escaped Soviet Latvia under trying circumstances, Yuri's mother and father (who works as a janitor) have embraced America, choosing to speak only their own idiosyncratic brand of English and decorating their small apartment with glossy magazine ads. In 1989, Yuri watches the fall of the Berlin Wall on television, plays host to Latvian relatives who may or may not be seeking asylum, and dabbles in socialism, an interest derived mostly from his passion for wild-haired Hannah Graham, a Socialist Worker vendor. Yuri's patriotic parents, particularly his hard-drinking father, Rudolfi, are outraged by Yuri's espousal of Marxist rhetoric, a blatant form of teenage rebellion. Oblivious to everything except his own obsession with Hannah, Yuri fails to recognize his father's love, and the implications of his own recklessness, until it's almost too late. Toutonghi's carefully observed character details, evocation of working-class Milwaukee and tales of the old country effectively walk the line between realism and absurdity.
I have a feeling I'll be able to relate to Hannah Graham in particular, having pushed ISO propaganda myself on occassion. The Seattle Times, our hometown paper, has already published their review as well. And word on the street is that none other than James Frey just loved it!
Catch him at upcoming readings in Seattle, Portland, New York and Chicago.
