Bill Killed Himself

This is a day old but I couldn't get to a computer yesterday because of various reasons and unfortunately my elaborate report on this has long since expired. But here are my humble thoughts on the passing of David Carradine...

Appearing over 100 movies in his lifetime, David Carradine is probably best know for two things - being selected over Bruce Lee to star in a TV show Bruce Lee created (in yellowface), and Bill, which Uma Thurman seeks to kill in Kill Bill. Although I don't really know his repertoire outside of these two works, and not all that thrilled with the unfortunate place he has in Bruce Lee lore, it's important to view from the right (or at least a more understanding) point-of-view.

Keep in mind that Carradine got the role in the 1970s, when people were not used to seeing ethnic minorities in their homes (on the tube). Although it's really tragic that Bruce Lee did not get to star in the show that he gave birth to, can you really blame network television? Carradine was a pawn in the whole thing, not a player.

June is busting out all over...

June is finally here! In the old days that meant summer vacation, no more gym class, playing video games, and sleeping until noon (my god I was a loser). Nowadays it just meant that it's 5 months into the new year, and it's also getting pretty damn hot out. 

But even though the lazy days of yore are long gone, replaced by normal days at an office, there are still a few things I'm looking forward to in the next 30 days or so:

1. My cousin's getting married in Toronto and I'm more than happy to get out of the tri-state area for a while.  haven't been anywhere besides boroughs, upstate Connecticut, and Jersey since July of last year and I'm super excited to hit the nice sandy beaches of Lake Ontario, "The Northern Riviera," and partake in there delicious cuisine, the delicate and artery-clogging poutine (basically disco fries with cheese curds).

2. The New York Asian Film Festival is getting all the film geeks and yellow fever patients all giddy and excited. Commencing roughly on the third week of June for the last 8 years, this festival serves up a sampling of recent Asian blockbusters from all over. I wish I could say that I'm pumped to see When the Full Moon Rises, a homage to 60s Malaysian cinema featuring, crime, sex, werewolves, and midgets, but alas I'll be in Toronto, getting lost on Blue Jay Way with my cousin and my new cousin. Nevertheless, the NYAFF is great because it runs directly into...

3. JAPAN CUTS: Festival of New Japanese Film, a film festival that showcases contemporary Japanese cinema without the usual doses of anime, samurai, and giant monsters (although school girls appear in several films). This also happens to be the festival I'm working on at my internship at Japan Society. I'm particularly excited about Love Exposure, a 4-hour long opus about pornography and religion(!)

So there you have it folks, my plans for the next 3 weekends. I think I'm gonna be dizzy.

Lou Ye defies China's government like a total badass

Few film genres fascinate me more than Mainland Chinese Cinema. In a country that has experienced rapid, hyper social and economic growth, and still sprinting forward with no end in sight, filmmakers impacting the international film scene, dubbed the sixth generation, are turning out movies with limited funds, but endless talent. 

Zhang Yimou might own the Chinese box office and pack in theaters in the U.S., Wong Kar-Wai may be the the Chinese voice in the stuffy art-house film world, but guys like Jia Zhang-ke, Wang Xiao-shuai, and Zhang Yuan capture a different part of China that is nowhere to be found in wuxia epics and restless youth dramas - that of its changing landscapes (not necessarily political/economic/social) distilled in snapshots of the daily lives of Chinese.

And perhaps the most maverick all contemporary Chinese directors today Lou Ye, a man whose movies like Suzhou River and The Summer Palace have earned him accolades from foreign audiences and lengthy film bans from the Chinese government.  Since he works outside of the Chinese film system, his works are usually deemed illegal by the government and cannot be shown in Chinese movie theaters (thank god for bootleg dvds). 

His 2006 Tiananmen Square riot film, The Summer Palace, got him banned from filmmaking for 5 years in China, but that didn't stop him. His latest film, Spring Fever, won Best Screenplay at the Cannes Film Festival this year. Lou had secretly shot the film in Nanjing and smuggled it to France, effectively shaking a big ol' middle finger at the Chinese government's authority.

This will no doubt piss off the Chinese government and may result in harsher consequences, such as imprisonment, but that doesn't bother Lou, who says in an interview, "I hope young directors will be free and will be independent enough to make their own films."

Lou Ye, you are a rock star.

more on his romp at Cannes here.

Wikipedia this gangsta.

Politicalicious!

I usually don't digress about politics, partially because there are people and bloggers far more qualified to argue points from every angle, and also because my views are always right.*

But today is a different day indeed. 

First, California's state supreme court voted to uphold Proposition 8, a big piece of hate steak that prevents same-sex marriage in the already flamboyant backside of America, pissing off many left-wingers and makes guys like me, who live in the giant liberal bubble that is New York City, question what the hell the rest of the country is thinking. Although the court ruled in favor of the ban 6-1, they unanimously decided against annulling some 18,000 same-sex marriages that took place before Prop 8 was propped up. I guess all that homo propaganda was made in vain.

In other news, President Obama nominated Sonia Sotomayor, a Bronx native, to the U.S. Supreme Court. If appointed Ms. Sotomayor will be the first Hispanic to serve as a Supreme Court Justice.  Gotta Love Bam Bam for adding color to the high offices of politics. New Yorkers do!  Republican('t)s are already getting all hot and bothered, concerned with her personal politics and inability to make judgements without her feelings getting in the way, which is also a pretty big problem among school children.

And of course the great American scholar, Rush Limbaugh, wants her slathered in fail sauce.

*If the post didn't make this clear enough I'm pretty far left.

Washington Square Park shakes itself free from construction fences

Washington Square Park, the Jardin Du Luxembourg of the West

Today was the first day that the fountain of Washington Square Park, which had been under construction for the last 18 months, was opened to the public, and damn it looks gorgeous! Although it has a new gentrified feeling to it, it won't be long before the street performers, buskers, and pot dealers return, ushering in the old look and feel of the place.

Hopefully I'll get a chance to make it down here a few times this summer. As a graduate of NYU (and part of the last class to graduate in the "olde" park) I spent countless hours there reading, people watching, tossing frisbees, and nursing hangovers. 

When I returned from China last summer I found, to my dismay, that I could not sit out near the fountain, sipping ice coffee and flipping through the Village Voice. It was like walking past a restaurant that made great sandwiches and seeing that it was boarded up, with the insides jumbled and deserted like a post-apocalyptic movie set.

Curbed has more pictures, but I'd definitely go see it for yourself.

Former Yankee Stadium turns former mayor into pothead, fans into dirtbags

Old (shitty) Yankee Stadium is being cut up and sold off like a freshly slaughtered pig. Everything, and I mean everything, is for sale for a hefty price. The back of those creaky spectator seats go for around $250.

Perhaps more idiotic are the other things up for sale. For example, $80 will get you a whopping tablespoon of fresh dirt from the old ballpark. I wonder if Steiner Sports and Marketing, the carpetbaggers that are behind this massive sell off, scam their customers by eye-balling the measurements. Or perhaps they're so jubilant about selling away soil for 80 bucks a pop that they're throwing in an earthworm to may the soil fertile so that one day it can grow into its very own sports stadium.

But it doesn't stop there. Celebrities are trying to secure a piece of the park before the cannibalistic fans get to them. Mariano Rivera was to buy the bullpen, Bernie Williams wants the outfield fence, and Johnny Damon wants the foul poles to put in his back yard. 

Rudy Giuliani, two-time mayor of New York City and full-time scumbag, is also interested in buying some land from the stadium too. A representative from Steiner was quoted, "[Guiliani] definitely wants grass..." 

Read the New York Post story here.

Vulture reminds us how SNL didn't suck this season.

It used to be commonplace among TV junkies to refer to the late night sketch comedy show, Saturday Night Live, as Saturday Night Dead - for all the horrid jokes that were massacred on air from poor performances, poor writing, and sometimes a combination of both. To be honest, I stopped watching when Molly Shannon left back years ago and didnt really tune in again until this season, and what a season to tune in.

Vulture, New York Magazine's culture blog, did a nice little run down of its 10 favorite sketches of the season. Although I think that they put too much emphasis on cultural context (c'mon, did the Palin sketches really affect the elections that much?) and sometimes are just plan wrong (the Mark Walhberg sketch was funny because it was silly and it actually pissed off Marky Mark, not because Andy Samberg did a spot on impression) but all in all a good selection. 

I'll be posting some of my favorite sketches that didn't make the cut below. Enjoy!