Wesley Willis’s Joyrides [2008]
1. "I sing about bestiality and real life."
2. Wesley goes to Taco John’s franchise HQ to tell them about a song he wrote that they could use in a commercial. A woman in the office keeps answering the phone in the background: "Taco John’s customer service, how may I help you?"
3. As he draws he uses the edge of a ballpoint pen as a straight edge instead of a ruler.
Synedoche, New York [2008]
1. "Can I say something awful?" Oh yes, please do."
2. He’s watching TV and a chemo drug commercial comes on. Typical healthy people frolicking in a park, enjoying their lives. Suddenly he himself appears in the commercial, throwing a Frisbee to a child.
3. He has lost the ability to cry. He sees the box for a gift he had sent to his daughter lying in the trash. From his pocket he takes a bottle of "tear substitute" and applies some to his eyes. He sits down and cries.
Obscene [2007]
1. The clip of Lenny Bruce reciting a passage from Tropic of Cancer.
2. I Am Curious (Yellow) made $10 million when it was released. John Waters describes it as “some limp cocks and ugly girls.”
3. Barney Rosset walks into the room holding a rum & Coke. A friend refers to it as “the mother’s milk.”
The Godfather [1972]
1. Kay gets out of a red and yellow taxi, wearing a full-length red coat and a red hat. They unlock the gate.
2. The phrase “make him an offer he can’t refuse” is used three times (I think).
3. After Don Corleone returns home from the hospital, he dresses in soft flannels and sweaters. Except for the big meeting, when he wears a suit.
When I was a junior or senior in high school, I rented the three Godfather movies all at once and watched them straight through in a marathon one night. I remember starting around 8 pm and finishing early the next morning just as my dad was getting ready for work. That was the only other time I’d seen the first one before yesterday. The restoration has been wonderfully handled and the print looks gorgeous. Awesome soundtrack too. It made all the difference seeing it on a big screen. Next weekend at the Music Box they show Part II. I’m there.
Live and Let Die [1973]
1. “Take Mr. Bond to the farm, Whisper.”
2. “Sheer magnetism, darling.” He unzips her dress using his magnetic watch.
3. The snake slithering through the white shag bathrug.
Is Obama really this close to winning? The current EV tally is Obama 338/McCain 185/Ties 15. At this moment in 2004 the EV tally was Kerry 238/Bush 296.
I’m not getting complacent but it does have me feeling a bit stunned. Then again, when I watched his speech at the DNC in 2004 I was a bit stunned; when I read Dreams from My Father I was a bit stunned; when he launched his campaign I was a bit stunned; and when he actually won the primary, I was a bit stunned. Par for the course as far as Obama goes: one of his great strengths is that people continually underestimate him, and then calm as you please he just goes and does what he sets out to do. Stunning.
Derek [2008]
1. Tilda Swinton: "Culture had something to do with yogurt."
2. Two of Jarman’s first three movies turned a profit.
3. A clip from Jubilee: a pram on fire.
Hey, Chicago people: if you know Chicago well, if you have about 5 hours a week to spare and if you’re a damn good writer then CHICAGOIST wants you. Interested? Drop me a line and I’ll fill you in.
Steven: looking at the news today, we may all be selling pencils down at the hobo camp soon enough
me: yeah … down in the tent town of bushville
