This being the week that Brett Ratner was declared a "billion dollar director," all things lead me to believe that this will be remembered as the week that cinema, and our souls, died.
John Travolta could not have hoped for a better coming out party.
Not to be glib or anything, but whether gay or straight, the only thing that Travolta truly brings to the new remake of Hairspray is precisely that question, or a similar one -- is he or isn’t he…crazy?
Despite all of the unfounded hoopla surrounding Travolta’s performance (his Baltimore accent rings false to anyone who watches The Wire), he certainly doesn’t manage to screw up what turns out to be a pretty great movie musical, even if he is overshadowed by virtually everyone else in the movie. (Especially Michelle Pfeiffer.)
The film revolves around the idea that a talented fat girl deserves a better lot than a pretty girl who can’t dance. The notion is at once familiar and not entirely convincing since both weight/attractiveness and dancing skill are innate traits that are only marginally within our control. Certainly in this film, it is never implied that Tracy Turnblad learned her dance moves. Rather it is obvious, as one of Aki Kaurismaki’s characters might say, that rock and roll is in her blood.
So I work about a block and a half away from the "failure of [New York City's] infrastructure", which caused this.
The day after my office was within the "frozen zone" that shut everything down, however, 2 days later they opened up some of the nearby streets that allowed a flood of professionals in fancy clothes to weave through the police tape and barricades.
A few pictures:
Submitted by DanteBronte on Fri, 07/20/2007 - 10:37
I saw the same thing happen on the Sorority quads my freshman year at Northwestern. But I guess if it happens in Midtown, it's suddenly really important...
The Greenpoint Oil Spill, the largest oil spill in American history, compromising anywhere from 17 to 30 million gallons of oil (which accounts for a spill that is twice to three times the amount of the Valdez spill), is still bubbling under the surface of northern Brooklyn and southern Queens. The spill, caused by an explosion in 1950, was only noticed in 1978 by the Coast Guard.
Submitted by DanteBronte on Sun, 07/15/2007 - 12:42
Here is the first leaked clip from the new Todd Haynes film "I'm Not There", about the life and times of Bob Dylan. This clip done in the style of the influential documentary Don't Look Back features David Cross as Allen Ginsberg and Cate Blanchett as Bob Dylan. Yes, Cate Blanchett as Bob Fucking Dylan.
You know, there are probably a lot more people out there who think this is the role Cross was meant to play, rather than, say, Bob was the role Cate Blanchett was meant to play.
However, watching this you have to consider that if you're a full-blown Bobolator who has always harbored a secret fantasy to fuck your idol, chances are you are in heaven when Blanchett dons a scruffy wig and chunky black sunglasses.
