http://poetix.net/reviews.htm
Favorite sentence of the review (mixture of praise and pan--leaning towards the latter):
Unluckily, I did not have that much time to produce this review. So what follows is more a series of impressions than the deep analysis I would prefer to give the book.
Maybe it would been a better thing (and fairer to Nelson Gary) if Murray had waited a month or two--and then proceeded to write a more analytic, thoughtful review.
Heaven knows there are plenty of poetry volumes that could have filled the October column instead.
Friday, October 29, 2010
RIP James MacArthur:The Young Stranger (1957) Trailer
To me, this was the best performance James MacArthur ever gave. A modest, filmed in black-and-white, cousin to Nicholas Ray's REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE; the beginning of John Frankenheimer's career as a director of feature films.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
New poem: SYMPATHY FOR CHARLIE SHEEN'S DEVILS
SYMPATHY FOR CHARLIE SHEEN'S DEVILS
Please allow him to introduce himself.
He's a man with wealth and no taste.
He destroye hotel rooms,
frightens women
and leaves New York in haste.
Hope you guessed his name.
Amusing you on a sitcom
is the nature of his game.
He earns a lot for not acting.
More money than what's paid to others.
When he makes a big big mess,
he's bailed out by CBS and Warner Brothers.
Hope you guessed his name.
Employing publicists to tell "official" stories
is the nature of his game.
There will be
no HOT SHOTS THREE.
Just more hookers, anger and psychic pains.
If he feels the need to stretch his talent,
he'll make another ad for Hanes.
Hope you guessed his name.
Keep watching TWO AND A HALF MEN every week
so he can continue playing his long-running game.
Please allow him to introduce himself.
He's a man with wealth and no taste.
He destroye hotel rooms,
frightens women
and leaves New York in haste.
Hope you guessed his name.
Amusing you on a sitcom
is the nature of his game.
He earns a lot for not acting.
More money than what's paid to others.
When he makes a big big mess,
he's bailed out by CBS and Warner Brothers.
Hope you guessed his name.
Employing publicists to tell "official" stories
is the nature of his game.
There will be
no HOT SHOTS THREE.
Just more hookers, anger and psychic pains.
If he feels the need to stretch his talent,
he'll make another ad for Hanes.
Hope you guessed his name.
Keep watching TWO AND A HALF MEN every week
so he can continue playing his long-running game.
Monday, October 25, 2010
Friday, October 22, 2010
SALON's Matt Zoller Seitz on Mel Gibson, THE HANGOVER 2 and selective Hollywood morality.
I don't agree 100 % with Seitz' article, but it's interesting and thought-provoking enough to post the link here:
http://salon.com/a/sfBgfAA
Two passages that were particularly resonant:
"Americans are the most irritating of hypocrites: binary-minded, easily distracted scolds. We have trouble holding opposing thoughts in our heads at the same time, and we stay furious only until the next outrage pops up in the media cycle. We have staunch positions on what constitutes right and proper behavior, but only for certain people -- the people whose behavior we happen to consider beyond the pale, for whatever subjective reason -- and we reserve the right to give a pass to whoever we like, whenever we please, and to come up with pretzel-logic rationalizations justifying our inconsistency. And we've got no problem taking a nuanced view of morally challenged artists as long as they're not raising hell in the present day."
"This ongoing spectacle of the entertainment industry censuring certain artists over their private misdeeds while ignoring or rehabilitating equally troublesome characters is pathetic. Violence, substance abuse, self-destruction and general prickishness is a blight on humanity, but it's a blight that should be dealt with by police and judges, not the media or the public. Either the criminal justice system is working properly or it isn't. And whether it is or isn't, the offenses or alleged offenses have nothing to do with an artist's work, or right to work, much less our ability to engage with and appreciate said work."
http://salon.com/a/sfBgfAA
Two passages that were particularly resonant:
"Americans are the most irritating of hypocrites: binary-minded, easily distracted scolds. We have trouble holding opposing thoughts in our heads at the same time, and we stay furious only until the next outrage pops up in the media cycle. We have staunch positions on what constitutes right and proper behavior, but only for certain people -- the people whose behavior we happen to consider beyond the pale, for whatever subjective reason -- and we reserve the right to give a pass to whoever we like, whenever we please, and to come up with pretzel-logic rationalizations justifying our inconsistency. And we've got no problem taking a nuanced view of morally challenged artists as long as they're not raising hell in the present day."
"This ongoing spectacle of the entertainment industry censuring certain artists over their private misdeeds while ignoring or rehabilitating equally troublesome characters is pathetic. Violence, substance abuse, self-destruction and general prickishness is a blight on humanity, but it's a blight that should be dealt with by police and judges, not the media or the public. Either the criminal justice system is working properly or it isn't. And whether it is or isn't, the offenses or alleged offenses have nothing to do with an artist's work, or right to work, much less our ability to engage with and appreciate said work."
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Book Soup apparently desperate for customers: He-man woman hater Tucker Max to do an in-store appearance.
Of course, the ubertrendy, affluent progressive audience-skewing Book Soup on Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood has a right to book any author it pleases for an in-store appearance. I'm fascinated that this particular author (anyone remember the fast flop of the movie version of his I HOPE THEY SERVE BEER IN HELL) is being a book-ee of the store.
Here's a description of the event from the Book Soup blog:
10/19/2010 - 7:00pm
Event Details:
Tucker Max discusses and signs Assholes Finish First
What do you do after you write a #1 bestselling book about your drunken, sexual misadventures that makes you rich and famous? Celebrate by getting more drunk and having insane amounts of sex, obviously. And pretty soon you've got another fucking book on your hands.Stuffed full of ridiculous stories of bad decisions, debauchery, and sexual recklessness, Assholes Finish First starts where I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell left off, then proceeds to "some next-level shit."
Here's a description of the event from the Book Soup blog:
10/19/2010 - 7:00pm
Event Details:
Tucker Max discusses and signs Assholes Finish First
What do you do after you write a #1 bestselling book about your drunken, sexual misadventures that makes you rich and famous? Celebrate by getting more drunk and having insane amounts of sex, obviously. And pretty soon you've got another fucking book on your hands.Stuffed full of ridiculous stories of bad decisions, debauchery, and sexual recklessness, Assholes Finish First starts where I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell left off, then proceeds to "some next-level shit."
Monday, October 18, 2010
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Neal Gabler on the TV fantasy of "we'll always be there for you" friendship.
Commentary: The social networks - latimes.com
This passage by Mr. Gabler is particularly resonant:
One feels a little churlish pointing out how phony most of this intimacy is. After all, these shows, even one as observant as "Modern Family," aren't about realism. They aren't about the genuine emotional underpinnings of friendship or family, and they certainly aren't about the rough course that almost every relationship, be it with a friend or family member, takes — the inevitable squabbles, the sometimes long and even permanent ruptures, the obtuseness, the selfishness, the reprioritization, the expectations of reciprocity, the drifting apart, the agonizing sense of loneliness even within the flock. These shows are pure wish fulfillment. They offer us friends and family at one's beck and call but without any of the hassles. It is friendship as we want it to be.
This passage by Mr. Gabler is particularly resonant:
One feels a little churlish pointing out how phony most of this intimacy is. After all, these shows, even one as observant as "Modern Family," aren't about realism. They aren't about the genuine emotional underpinnings of friendship or family, and they certainly aren't about the rough course that almost every relationship, be it with a friend or family member, takes — the inevitable squabbles, the sometimes long and even permanent ruptures, the obtuseness, the selfishness, the reprioritization, the expectations of reciprocity, the drifting apart, the agonizing sense of loneliness even within the flock. These shows are pure wish fulfillment. They offer us friends and family at one's beck and call but without any of the hassles. It is friendship as we want it to be.
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