Halloween Treats

For your enjoyment I've assembled the following ghoulish videos, enjoy.

Everyday is Halloween

Thriller

Monster Mash

Indian Thriller (must watch!)

The Epistolary W

Oliver Stone discusses the narrative of his latest film, W., in this Slate e-mail dialog. Stone is criticized by two of the writers who participated. Specifically it is alleged that Stone's version of W's relationship with his father is exaggerated, and that Stone misconstrues Cheney's justification of the invasion of Iraq. I think Stone does a good job defending himself, and it sounds like he put a lot of effort into the script. If anything, Stone comes across as the best writer of the bunch. Reporters and biographers don't necessarily have to be great technical writers, but you don't expect to see them bested by a Hollywood director. Then again, Oliver Stone isn't your ordinary Hollywood director.

Beatles the Videogame

Maybe this will convince Little Earl to partake of the dark art:

Beatles Version of Rock Band to Offer Unprecedented Gameplay

"A Beatles-branded interactive music game along the lines of Rock Band and Guitar Hero will give gamers and music lovers a chance to play songs from every stage of the Beatles' storied career, from the sweet simplicity of "Please, Please Me" to more sophisticated fare like the songs on Abbey Road.

Unlike previous editions of Rock Band, this one will exist as a "Beatles game" rather than as a branded version of Rock Band. The basic gameplay will be familiar to those who have played other versions of Rock Band, said Harmonix co-founder Alex Rigopulos, but the Beatles' version represents "a unique opportunity for us to forge into new creative terrain in the music game genre and do things that have never been done."

Yoggoth's Prayers Are Answered

From IMDB:

Joaquin Phoenix Says He's Quitting Acting

29 October 2008 2:30 AM, PDT

Joaquin Phoenix, who was nominated for a best actor Oscar for his starring role as Johnny Cash in the biopic Walk the Line, has announced that he is putting his life as an actor behind him. Interviewed by the syndicated Extra at a benefit for the Association of Hole in the Wall Camps founded by Paul Newman, Phoenix, who has just completed filming the drama Two Lovers, said, "I want to take this opportunity ... to give you the exclusive ... that this will be my last performance as an actor. ... I'm not doing films anymore." Phoenix said that he intends to focus on building his career as a singer. "I'm done" with making movies, he said, "I've been through that." Although he was also nominated for an Oscar for best supporting actor for Gladiator, Phoenix has experienced an up-and-down career as an actor. His last film, Focus Features' Reservation Road, received mostly negative reviews and earned a scant $121,994 during a three-week release on 14 screens. (Walk the Line, by contrast, earned an imposing $119 million.)

The Central Valley: Centrally Destitute

Stand tall, Central Valley! According to this article on MSN Careers, at least 10 of the 25 worst markets in which to currently find a job are located within your charmingly agricultural borders. All the big guns are here: Modesto, Stockton, Madera, Fresno, Merced, Bakersfield, Visalia...even Hanford gets a shout-out! But hey, don't feel down - at least you're not El Centro. By contrast, if you happen to reside in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Idaho Falls, Idaho, or Logan, Utah, you are sitting pretty.

A Movie, A Movie, My Kingdom For A Movie

Seeing as I've just about exhausted most of the films released in 2007 that I've actually seen, I've been contemplating moving on and reviewing films from 2008. Only one problem: I haven't seen any! Is it just me or have there been hardly any films this year that really felt like "must-see" movies? The only such movie I can think of is The Dark Knight. And I still didn't see it! I mean, the kind of movie where you feel like, no matter what, you owe it to yourself to see the damn thing? Wall-E? Burn After Reading? Pineapple Express? The Changeling? Perhaps I really do need those dreaded "year end best-of" lists I ridiculed so fervently last December after all. But as of October 27, there are only a handful of movies coming out in the next month or so that I am truly excited about seeing. I list them below:

Synecdoche, New York: See Ninquelote's post
The Argentine/Guerilla: Steven Soderbergh's four-hour epic starring Benicio Del Toro as Che Guevara. And it's entirely in Spanish!
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: David Fincher, hot off Zodiac, adapts a sci-fi/fantasy-esque F. Scott Fitzgerald short story. Count me in.
Milk: Gus van Sant + '70s San Francisco history = at least something worth seeing, right?
Frost/Nixon: Ron Howard doesn't always manage to employ a light touch, but I've heard great things about the play and Howard's kept the original cast, so...

In the meantime, perhaps I'll jump back and review some older films from 2006 and 2005. Or perhaps I'll actually spend my time looking for a job.

No Man Speaks As Hitch Speaks

Here is a debate between Christopher Hitchens and Eric Alterman.

From the comments:

"It never ceases to amaze me that I do, in fact, agree (by and large) with Alterman but find myself rooting for Hitchens. Am I shallow? Is it the accent? Drawn to a fellow atheist and libertine? Great vlog. Thanks to both."

"Even when I strongly disagree with Hitchens, I love to listen to him make his arguments."

Both men argue around each other a bit, but on the whole I found it interesting.

Towards a Spotless Mind

Selectively Deleting Memories - Technology Review

"Amping up a chemical in the mouse brain and then triggering the animal's recall can cause erasure of those, and only those, specific memories, according to research in the most recent issue of the journal Neuron."

So when can we expect an existential tunnel into John Malkovich's body?

Chinese Democracy - Now With More Flavor!

The Cold War is over and Chinese Democracy is now looming on the horizon. No, not that kind of democracy, I'm talking about the new Guns 'n Roses album! After something like 15 years we'll finally be seeing Axl's long awaited follow-up to.. uh, ahem, The Spaghetti Incident? (their '?' mark). If you are unaware this album has a long history. It's been talked about for years, with Axl guaranteeing that it would be released "soon" for about 10 years now. Its non-release has practically become legend at this point, somewhere up there with the release of Duke Nukem Forever and the proper version of Star Wars that we all remember.

So legendary in fact that earlier this year the makers of the soda Dr. Pepper came out and promised free Dr. Pepper for everyone if Chinese Democracy were to release this calendar year. And with the actual announcement of a release date (Nov. 23rd) Dr. Pepper is actually making good on that promise. You'll be able to go to Dr. Pepper's website that day and download a coupon for a free drink. Then when you get home with your new GnR album clutched in hand, you'll be able to crack open a nice cold soda as you let the homophobic-yet-I-wish-I-were-Elton-John/Freddie-Mercury-wannabee-tones of Axl's voice sweep over you. Aaah, refreshing!

Part for the Whole, or Vice Versa

The great Charlie Kaufman has possibly done it again. His new movie, Synecdoche, New York, staring pretty much my favorite actor of all time, the equally great Philip Seymour Hoffman, will be premiering tomorrow in, well New York probably. This will be Kaufman's directorial debut, and of course he wrote it also.

Synecdoche is the timeless tale of a slightly off kilter theatre director, Caden (Hoffman), whose wife, Adele (Katherine Keener), leaves him, and takes their daughter with her, to pursue the American dream of going to Berlin to paint. He decides to move into a large warehouse with a cast and construction crew, and direct a play about New York City and more specifically his own life within it.

It was a smash at Cannes; but really, what isn't. I'm going to take a chance though and give it a premature two thumbs up.