Wall-E

Congratulations, Pixar, on your ninth consecutive successful movie! Walt Disney Studios never even had that kind of run in its golden age.

Wall-E is a fantastic movie. The best they've done since The Incredibles. The story is incredibly simple: a robot left behind on Earth to clean up our mess, spends his free time collecting odd trinkets of humanity and watching Hello Dolly on his video iPod. One day a brand new sleek & sexy robot (EVE) shows up, Wall-E is smitten and adventure ensues.

The first half of Wall-E is a brilliant silent movie. There is a tremendous amount of story and characterization conveyed without any dialogue. Wall-E is endearing from the very first moment you see him, and only becomes more so as the film progresses.

It's almost a disappointment when the story takes Wall-E into space. If the movie had solely been about Wall-E's isolation, and then his reaction to a new friend, that would have been enough for me. Those scenes were so well done.

But the movie actually does develop a plot about EVE's mission to discover plant life on Earth, and what happens when the remains of humanity (Pixar's vision of our future is not pretty) decide to return to a home they left over 700 years before.

The animation is amazing as usual. There are some breathtaking settings, from Earth's towers of compressed trash cubes (Wall-E's legacy) to the reaches of outer space. The character animation is arguably better in this movie than any they've done yet, but it would have to be since all of the main characters can only interact through body language. The soundtrack is one of Thomas Newman's best scores, and as a bonus, contains a brand new song by Peter Gabriel (glee!).

Also worth mentioning is the new Pixar short animation shown before the movie. Presto is part Pixar, part Looney Tunes. It's about a magician trying to perform, and being upstaged by his rabbit who just wants a carrot. The rabbit thwarts the magician with the use of two magic hats. They act as portals to each other, which leads to a series of very original and hilarious gags. It's my favorite Pixar short since Geri's Game, which played in front of A Bug's Life.

July 4th

For this Independence Day, I give you the most patriotic song of all time:

RPM

Last night I locked my keys in my car...with the engine still running. But you know what? It was worth it. Because I got to meet the greatest American ever.

While waiting with Bone and Matt for AAA to arrive , a nondescript white van pulled into our parking lot. Out jumps a drunken white guy in his late 40's. What followed is something I will never forget. RPM (his initials/nickname), a military veteran, went into a forty minute rambling monologue about prejudice, black chicks, bacon and eggs, but mostly just lots and lots of lurid, hedonistic sex.

When we finally got my car unlocked and returned to my apartment, we frantically tried to reassemble everything we had just heard.

I will now relay some of the wisdom imparted to us by RPM.

***WARNING***
WHAT FOLLOWS CONTAINS GRAPHIC LANGUAGE!
YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

RPM on prejudice:
"I don't care if you're white, black, purple, or yellow. I hate everybody. Even myself."

(five minutes later)

"There's only one person I like, and that's me. Because I know me."

RPM on being black:
"I don't have nothing against black people. I'm from Atlanta. I grew up in Cabbagetown. You know where that is? That's the blackest of the black. Show me someone black - I'm blacker than them. I'm blacker than you [to Bone]. I've had more black pussy than you."

RPM on black pussy:
"I want that black Cinderella over there that drives the BMW. I wouldn't even fuck her. I'd put that pussy on a platter like a salad. I wouldn't ruin it by stickin' my dick in it."

RPM on the culinary arts:
"I woke up the next morning, and heard someone knocking on the door. I walked over and answered the door buck naked. She was standing there and I said, 'I remember you. Your that big tittied bitch! Come inside. I'll make you some bacon and eggs.'"

"I wrapped a piece of bacon around my dick and walked in there. I said, 'Which part of the hog do you want? The head or the bone?' I said, 'You can bite it off or I can shake it off.' I shook that bacon off and gave it to her."

"Her boyfriend - a big motherfucker - was standing there. He said, 'I'm looking for my girlfriend.' I said, 'She's in the bedroom.' He said, 'What the fuck is she doing in there?' I said, 'I gave her some bacon. I'm gonna give her a piece of sausage, but she only gets one piece of breakfast at a time.'"

RPM on entertaining guests:
"She said, 'You're fucking crazy! I'm calling my sister.' By the end of that night I had [counting on his fingers] her, her boyfriend, her sister, three of their friends, and two of their other friends. It was seven women, one guy. And let me tell you something: that was the worst fuck of my life. I felt like a marshmallow. I've never been squeezed so much in my life."

RPM on curiosity:
"I've only bent over once or twice in my life. I'm not a faggot. It's a curiosity thing."

He went on like this nonstop for forty minutes, before going off to buy his girlfriend more beer. I'm not even writing the most graphic stuff he talked about. My mind was thoroughly blown for the whole evening.

Shortbus

I watched a really interesting movie Monday night called Shortbus. It's by the writer and director of Hedwig and the Angry Inch, which I haven't seen but understand it has a loyal cult following. I hadn't heard as much about Shortbus outside of the few reviews I saw at the time of its limited theatrical release, which were generally positive.

The most unusual thing about the movie is its sexual content. The actors are all unknowns, and they are all very very brave. Because the sex scenes are real. These people are actually doing these things, and the camera is right in there showing you what's happening. It's unsettling, especially the opening montage, but it all serves a purpose too. Unlike pornographic films, the sex scenes in Shortbus aren't there to excite you or get you off. All of them serve a purpose in the story, and contain important character moments.

Still, if that was all the movie had going for it it wouldn't really be worth checking out. Fortunately there's a good movie wrapped around those scenes that is compelling and genuinely emotionally gratifying. It's the story of several strangers with emotional baggage that impacts their personal (and sexual) lives. Their paths cross at an underground sex club in post 9/11 New York called Shortbus (for people with "special needs", get it?). Here one of the main characters, a couples councilor who's never had an orgasm, seeks her own sort of therapy. Meanwhile a young man, an ex-escort, struggles with a severe depression resulting from the emotional walls he's built to protect himself, but which prevent him from having a healthy relationship with his boyfriend.

The movie also has a fantastic soundtrack. There are several scenes in the club, which also serves as a kind of cabaret, with live musicians playing in the background. And even a big musical climax at the end of the movie. Some of the artists on the soundtrack are pretty well known, like Yo La Tengo and The Animal Collective. But there are several other indie artists that I'd never heard of and are fantastic. There are several songs by Scott Matthew (who I believe is the main musical performer in the actual movie), and one particularly nice one by Jay Brannan who plays one of the main characters. Most of the music is acoustic indie rock, with a little electronica thrown in. It's a great mix, and probably the nicest surprise about the movie for me.

I recommend the film to anyone who doesn't find its frank content objectionable. The movie is wonderfully hopeful, often very funny. It even deals with the aftermath of 9/11 in an honest and personal way that I haven't seen in any other movie. Check it out if you're not sure what movie to Netflix next.

New York Times review
Chicago Sun Times review

First And Ten

Current iTunes stats:
Tracks: 25,021
Total playtime: 68 days, 4 hours
Songs about ninjas: 5
Songs about pirates: 12

Shuffling....

1. The Advantage - "Goonies 2", The Advantage


2. Apples In Stereo - "Love You Alice/D", Fun Trick Noisemaker

3. Susumu Hirawasa - "Sekai Turbine", The Ghost In Science


4. The Presidents of the United States of America - "Zero Friction", Love Everybody


5. Robbie Robertson - "Take Your Partner By The Hand (Red Alert Mix)", Contact From the Underworld of Redboy


6. Jason Robert Brown - "Someone Else's Clothes", Wearing Someone Else's Clothes


7. Talking Heads - "Artists Only", Once In A Lifetime


8. Yellow Magic Orchestra - "Computer Game (theme from the Circus)", Yellow Magic Orchestra


9. Wilco - "Spiders (Kidsmoke)", A Ghost Is Born


10. Stone Temple Pilots - "Interstate Love Song", Purple