NewCityMovement

Nick Knight + Gareth Pugh, 'Insensate'

Watch this in HQ... AMAZING! More info here.

Summer Blockbusters Will Melt Your Brain

One of my favorite pastimes is reading the very lowest rated reviews for Summer blockbusters at sites like Metacritic or Rotten Tomatoes. Here's a sampling from Metacritic's survey of the mind melting waste of celluloid called Transformers II:

"The reductio ad absurdum of a summer blockbuster. It is loud (boom!), long (two and a half hours!), incoherent (poorly explained intergalactic warfare!), leering (Megan Fox in short shorts!), racist (jive-talkin' robot twins!), and rife with product tie-ins (Chevy! Hasbro!)." – Slate Dana Stevens

"The special effects are better and the dialogue slightly more humorous than in the first movie, but the anti-Arab subtext is repugnant." – Chicago Reader Andrea Gronvall

"This Transformers is a pile of glittering junk." – Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern

"A horrible experience of unbearable length, briefly punctuated by three or four amusing moments." –
Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert 

"An impossibly, incomprehensibly overlong and cacophonous bore." – Christian Science Monitor  Peter Rainer 

"Transformers 2 has a shot at the title Worst Movie of the Decade." –
Rolling StonePeter Travers

Valentino Film

Now playing (for one more day).

Ephemeral A

ephemeral A from FIELD

An edit of various scenes from our generative animation system. experimenting with agent-based simulations of social network behaviour.

The Space Odyssey Explained

Maybe this is old but it's definitely worth a look: www.kubrick2001.com

Jell-O Like You've Never Seen It

SprintCam V3 extreme slow-motion HD camera.

Film School For Dummies

No, I didn't go to film school actually, but I live with people who did and you could say I'm fairly well versed in the stuff. So today I am re-posting my list of all-time favorites. Cult, independent, documentary and "other" including a few new additions for anyone with a dwindling Netflix cue. Don't be shy about recommending titles I missed in the comments. Enjoy!

CRAP-TACULAR CULT:
Dune
Zardoz
Barbarella: Queen Of The Galaxy
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen
The Omega Man
Donkey Skin
Saturn 5
Danger: Diabolik
Juliet of the Spirits
The Wicker Man (Original Version)
Meet The Feebles (Peter Jackson's first film)
Logan's Run

BEAUTIFUL, STRANGE & CEREBRAL:
The Holy Mountain (Alejandro Jodorowsky)
El Topo (Alejandro Jodorowsky)
On The Silver Globe (Andrzej Zulawski)
The Saddest Music In The World
American Astronaut
The Films of the Brothers Quay
Stalker (Andrei Tarkovski) The Mirror (Andrei Tarkovski)
City Of Lost Children (Marc Caro & Jean-Pierre Jeunet)
Delicatessen (Marc Caro & Jean-Pierre Jeunet)
The Return (Andrei Zvyagintsev)
Utomlyonnye solntsem aka Burnt By The Sun (Nikita Mikhalkov)
Cabeza de Vaca (Nicolás Echevarría)
Aguirre, the Wrath of God (Werner Herzog)
Fitzcarraldo (Werner Herzog)
Time of the Gypsies (Emir Kusturica)
The Devils (Ken Russell)
Faustus (Jan Svenkmeier)
Dreams (Akira Kurosawa)
Ran (Akira Kurosawa)
Things To Come
Metropolis

THE GOOD STUFF:
Blade Runner
Alien
Alien 2
Wild At Heart
Shadow Of The Vampire
Let The Right One In
Reign Of Fire
Boogie Nights
Timecrimes
Sunshine
The Devil's Backbone
Hedwig and the Angry Inch
Bloody Sunday
Rosemary's Baby
Water Drops On Burning Rocks (François Ozon)
Once upon A Time In The West
The Good The Bad And The Ugly
The Celebration
Lost In Translation
Heavenly Creatures (Peter Jackson)
Beau Travail
The Party (starring Peter Sellers)
Downfall
Coraline
The Piano Teacher
The Lives of Others
Harold & Maude
City Of God
Ed Wood
Election

DOCUMENTARIES:
The Legend of Leigh Bowery
The Cruise
The Long Way Round
The Long Way Down
The Devil's Playground
Paris Is Burning
Grey Gardens
Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple
En el Hoyo
The Yes Men
Hell House
Hands On A Hard Body
The Devils Miner
The Nomi Song
The Fog Of War
Grizzly Man
The Eyes of Tammy Faye

TELLY:
Strangers With Candy
The League Of Gentleman (BBC)
Black Books (BBC)
The Kingdom (Lars von Trier) [Danish Television Series]
Deadwood

SpyHop Turns 10 Today!

Spy Hop's Annual Benefit A Decade of Empowering Youth Through Multimedia
Thursday, April 30th 2009; 6:00-9:30pm
Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center

Join us for an evening of live musical and radio performances, new youth media, a look back on Spy Hop's first decade, and an auction you won't forget.

SPECIAL GUEST
Tony & Emmy Award Winning Actor, Edward Herrmann

EVENING EMCEES
Carter & The Coach from 103.5 The Arrow

Admission: $60.00
Alumni (any former core student 21+ years old): $40.00
RSVP by April 22nd
Purchase tickets here »

Enjoy TASTE OF SALT LAKE CITY and learn about Spy Hop's core programs. Chat with alumni, enjoy live student performances and watch new youth media. Live auction and prize giveaway.

Food from Salt Lake's finest restaurants, including: Bambara . Carlucci's Bakery . Cucina Toscana . Em's Restaurant/Liberty Heights Fresh . Metropolitan Restaurant . Oasis Cafe . Sage's Cafe and So Cupcake.

Beer & Wine provided by:
Red Rock Brewing Company. Vine Lore, Inc.M

More info, contact John Boyack at (801) 532-7500 or email.

The Spy Hop Annual Benefit & Auction is specifically designed to raise funds for the organization's four core programs including the Pitch-Nic Young Writer and Director program, Multimedia Apprenticeship program, Youth Documentary Arts program, and Loud and Clear Youth Radio program.

My friend Davey made this 20 minute art journalism video that profiles 3 local artists called Slingshot Out the Valley. [Dada Factory on Vimeo]

"Where the Wild Things Are" movie trailer. (Including NO DIGITAL special effects!)

Reasons To Cancel Your Cable

According to Cancelcable.com, paying for cable is "like buying a new 50″ TV each year and tossing it in the dumpster." Lately I've been considering all the ways one can consume, neigh over consume entertainment in our present day as online streaming networks, downloading and Netflix evolve in prevalence and quality. I'm not a kill your TV kind of person, I love my "stories" as much as the next guy. But one thought keeps coming to mind lately. In a world where time and now money are so precious, why spend so much of it watching what is just on the telly at any given time, or spend it programming (and reprogramming in my case) the Tivo when you can see what you want, more or less at your leisure without cable or sattelite?

It's something to consider for those of us who enjoy TV but could use the savings. 20 years of not paying for cable could take $45,000 off your 30 year home loan. And who better to hate on in this bad economy than your cable company? They've been gouging you for decades to watch 30% commercials!

I know that Hulu.com isn't news to anyone reading this, but I've learned more in the past few days that makes me even more curious as to the possibilities. If you have a computer and hi-speed internet, you can practically watch any show out there on network specific sites or online hubs like Hulu. Since a lot of available entertainment on the net is scattered at best, a site called SideReel is helpful in finding what you want. Many shows are available on several sites including Hulu, Sling, Crackle, Fancast, TV.com or others (which was news to me) leaving you to choose the one that offers the best streaming quality and viewing control. Also, among the ways you can stream your Netflix is a new $99 device called 'Roku' which has been getting glowing reviews from Wired, the Times and The Washington Post. The small internet connected set-top box uses your computer as it's search and programming tool, leaving the simple on-screen interface to play what you've told it to download. iTunes and Xbox do this too but Roku seems like it's the growing method of choice. The quality isn't as good as digital television, but it's better than your computer and it rivals broadcast apparently, and you can always get the movies you really want to see in hi-def/DVD in the mail right?

Think about it. If you could unplug from the hype of premium channels like HBO and Showtime long enough to watch what was really worth seeing a few months later through Netflix or iTunes, you could beat the system, save your hard earned cash and have a lot more free time.

Televsion Wonderfulness

While I was nursing a minor hangover yesterday I caught some amazing television on MTV of all places. First, the new Real World Brooklyn looks as promising as a 3rd marraige. The intriguing cast includes a post-op tranny, a returned Iraq war soldier, a dolphin trainer, an ex-lesbian and best of all two Utahns, one a closeted gay mormon from Happy Valley and a non-mormon chic from SLC. My friend who happened to be visiting from Brooklyn over the holidays told me that tons of businesses wouldn't let them film and some restaurants changed their signs so the exposure wouldn't attract unhipster like attention. What's not to love about this?

Later I caught a brilliant documentary called Planet B-Boy. A 2007 film directed by Benson Lee that makes a compelling argument for break dancing as an artform by following various crews, individual dancers and their families leading up to the 'Battle of the Year', an international B-Boy competition in Germany. The cool thing about B-Boy-ing, besides it's resurgence, is it's overall positive philosophy, sense of community and the love shared between the members of these crews. Many come from broken families and dangerous street culture and see it partly as a non-violent way to express themselves. And who knew Korea had the sickest breakers in the world? Needless to say, television loves me and MTV provided some much needed hope in my fragile state.

  "You're gonna love my nuts!" ...deconstructing the SlapChop infomercial.

Amy Sedaris hosts a PBS special on humor starting with an online only episode called 'Teh Internets'.

Avondale

Local celebutante Robin Ashdown's low-budget series 'Avondale' is based on characters she and her friends imagine living in the apartment complex across from her famed 'Palace'. We're talking LOW budget (sound quality is random) but it is a joy to watch Ashdown in here element and the wardrobe is fantastic.

Where Do I Begin

The Melanie Griffith 'Meditation Room' ...is for real. [Thanks Roger]

Stop Motion Sci-Fi

Ungdomskulen "Modern Drummer"

Norwegians Ungdomskulen seem like a nice 'rock' band with a sense of humor. Try them on for size. The video reuls. (official site)

Filthy Gorgeous Participates On Project Runway 5

Local Filthy Gorgeous fashion designer Keith Bryce is the next in a long line of Utah reality show participants. I met Keith when I mixed music for two of his fashion shows at the Utah Arts Festival in years past. We wish him the best of luck on Project Runway 5 which premiers this Wednesday on Bravo.