If you are a mad Aimee Mann fan like myself, you will want to know two things: first, that she has made a concept album and it is available for pre-order beginning March 9th for delivery beginning May 3rd. March 9th is tomorrow, not today, no matter how often I check the date on my computer. Second, the first three songs on the album are available for streaming on her website (original). ...
Truth be told (and that’s really kind of the point, isn’t it?), Hunter S. Thompson stopped writing well sometime in the 70s. It doesn’t matter. Even if you discount The Great Shark Hunt, which I personally wouldn’t, you’ve got a legacy the likes of which we don’t see often. Hell. It says enough about him to say that he was so dominant, so powerful, that (despite Tom Wolfe and George Plimpton) he birthed and killed gonzo. If you write like he wrote, you’re an imitator, and who thinks of gonzo journalism as anything else but writing in his style? ...
First off, if you want links to everything, check out the IMDB Oscars page (original). Second off, Defamer claims they’ll be liveblogging as well. Chances are the snark quality will be somewhat higher over there.
Souvenir Press is reprinting the Modesty Blaise books, but they’re in no particular hurry about it. For my own notes: Haves Sabre-Tooth (1966) I, Lucifer (1967) A Taste for Death (1969) The Impossible Virgin (1971) The Silver Mistress (1973) Last Day in Limbo (1976) Dragon’s Claw (1978) The Xanadu Talisman (1981) Have Nots Modesty Blaise (1965) Pieces of Modesty (short stories) (1972) The Night of Morningstar (1982) Dead Man’s Handle (1985) Cobra Trap (1996)
For reference: Oscar predictions from CNN, the Guardian, Associated Press, and the talented Robin Laws. Without summarizing all of them, suffice it to say that my picks were not deeply daring. Then again, neither is the Academy.
It’s about that time. I’ll probably live-blog the Oscars tonight, just because I like doing it. My commentary on the nominees is here. My picks for winners (and preferred winners if I had to pick from the nominees): Best Actor: Jamie Foxx. Should be Clint Eastwood, but the Academy will steer clear of him this year. The political aspects to Million Dollar Baby didn’t help him. Best Actress: hard to call, but I think Hilary Swank. (My other guess would be Catalina Moreno.) Kate Winslet should win it, though. ...
FYI: Theodore Roszak’s Flicker is back in print. It’s a great book about movies, albeit one with a somewhat unsatisfying ending; this review hits the mark for me. Particularly in the snark about Aronofsky as a director. (Via Twitch.)
I’m living my life wrong. How do I know this? I never get to say things like “The optimal, best-case scenario is the ashes will be shot out of a cannon.” (original) Ever.
In her first scene in Constantine, Tilda Swinton wears a bespoke suit. A bespoke suit is the best possible suit: hand-sewn and carefully tailored to the individual. English Cut is a bespoke blog: a blog written by a Savile Row bespoke tailor, who has made suits for Bryan Ferry, Prince Charles, and Ralph Lauren. Not a shabby resume.
Speaking of Wong Kar Wai, turns out the Brattle is running a Wong Kar Wai retrospective in April (original). They’re showing everything but 2046. Note that Ashes of Time, the only Wong Kar Wai movie unavailable on DVD in the US (OK, yes, but Sony seems to have the rights to 2046 (original) and it’ll be out by the end of this year, I bet) is playing on Sunday, April 10th.