It’s Friday—Goodbye Work, Hello Cupcakes!

Cupcakes have been all the confectionary craze for a couple of years now in New York and LA, with Amy Sedaris as the cupcake pied piper.   San Diego is now jumping into the batter with its own twist.  Square cupcakes!  Personally, I didn't need a square version to get me on board but if this is what it takes to get a pistachio cupcake with pomegranate frosting, so be it.  I'll worship the square.  Other unique flavors: Lilikoi--vanilla cupcake with lilikoi (passion fruit) buttercream frosting, Peanut Butter and Jelly--peanut butter cake and strawberry frosting, Vanilla Chai--tender Chai cake with vanilla/orange buttercream frosting, and the other siren in the bunch for me, a Lemon White Chocolate--white chocolate cake with a hint of lemon frosting with white chocolate ganache.  These sweets are only $2.75 each.  Grand opening is today!

This interactive feature from The New York Times is so, so fun.  You can look at a sampling of Al Jaffee's back cover fold-in's for Mad Magazine.   Jaffee still does the fold-in's for Mad, drawing them by his 87-year-old hand!  I went through the feature twice trying to find the elements of the resulting images in the original drawing.   A worthy time suck.

McSweeney's has a mini film school course in three lines.  Citizen Kane, The Godfather, and other greats are hilariously boiled down.  For example:

West Side Story

TONY: Cinema has a long literary tradition. This one's based on Shakespeare.

MARIA: Just like that Amanda Bynes movie!

TONY: (Sigh.) Let's just dance-fight.

Errol Morris seems to be everywhere right now, which is really a good thing.  He has a new documentary coming out about Abu Ghraib (the site for his film is really good - but be prepared to look at the unbelievably disturbing photographs again).  Can't seem to find an opening  date for San Diego... anyone? Tentative opening in San Diego is May 2nd.   Morris and Werner Herzog chat it up over at The Believer.  I regularly have the dinner party fantasy:  what's the most interesting mix of 8 people for dinner?  My fantasy guest lists change all the time, but Werner Herzog and Errol Morris together is a bang-up start.   Morris has also written two interesting opinion pieces in NYT about using re-enactments in documentaries.

KPBS Senior Editor Alan Ray on the new Scorsese-helmed Rolling Stones documentary Shine a Light:  "All rock and wrinkles."  He doesn't recommend it. 

A lot of you probably know about Flickr, the online photo sharing site, but have you ever browsed the photographs in Flickr's San Diego group?  There are some great images of our fair city by visitors and local photogs.  Enjoy!

And finally, check out these Garfield comic strips without Garfield... way better.  Thanks for the tip, Edward!

Is There An Anti-Male Conspiracy in Hollywood?

These Days host Tom Fudge loves to talk about movies.  In fact, so does everyone on the These Days staff.  There tends to be a lot of movie discussion towards the end of the day, when the news cycle has hit a lull, or on Thursday afternoons when we have a breather (These Days doesn't have a show on Friday mornings... but you knew that because you listen EVERY DAY, right?  And then at 11am you immediately start reading Culture Lust...I must say, you're all fine, fine people).

Tom was on vacation last week and must have missed our movie conversations.  When he and his wife rented a movie from Netflix, an interesting conversation followed and Tom sent Culture Lust these thoughts on movie myths, anti-male conspiracies, and reveals that his wife wins all their arguments!

Gender, Parenting, and the Great Anti-male Hollywood Conspiracy

By Tom Fudge
 
Mythology and its many stories make us believe that certain things are true and right. This has been the case throughout human history. All that’s changed is the medium. Myth was communicated orally, then scripturally. Today it’s done cinematically.

The myth of the movie cowboy has instructed us in matters of independence and self reliance. Disney movies have influenced gender roles and our relationship with animals. In fact, I don’t think we would have an animal rights movement without Walt Disney. Several generations of Americans were traumatized by the murder of Bambi’s mother and it didn’t take long before some of them created PETA.

I was thinking of the power of Hollywood myth-making as I was watching a movie that my wife got from Netflix. It’s called Dan in Real Life.  It stars Steve Carrell and Juliette Binoche in a story where the main character is a single Dad (Carrell) with three daughters. The Dad seeks to have a romance with a woman (Binoche) who, he later learns, is dating his brother.

As I watched this movie I saw that it contained a subplot that some members of the so-called men’s movement strenuously object to. I’m referring the portrayal of the main character’s wife. “What portrayal?” you’ll be wondering if you’ve seen the movie. She’s dead, and he’s a widower. But that’s just it.

If she were alive she’d be right there caring for her kids. Death is the only thing that will pull a woman away from her children and her maternal duties. Call it the Sleepless in Seattle supposition.

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Zombie Strippers Coming To A Theater Near You

I never, in a million years, thought I would write a title like that.  And it's true.  On April 20th 18th, fans of zombies, strip clubs, and porn can come together in celebration of the wonders of cinema.  I'm more than a little frightened.  The press release reads:  "As one of the strippers gets the virus, she turns into a supernatural, flesh-eating zombie stripper, making her the hit of the club."

Tom Fudge On The Horton Hears A Who! Controversy:  The Intersection Of Politics And Art

What do we hear when we hear a who?

By Tom Fudge 

Last week protestors caused a ruckus around the opening of a movie called Horton Hears a Who. The movie is based on a children’s book by the late Dr. Seuss, a one-time San Diego resident whose real name was Ted Geisel.  The demonstration was inspired by the story’s proclamation, by kind-hearted elephant Horton, that “a person’s a person, no matter how small.” Anti-abortion activists came to the movie’s premiere and handed out flyers afterwards, telling people that Horton’s statement explains why we need to protect the unborn.

The demonstration irked a few pro-choicers. But it didn’t bother me. I have no idea what Ted Geisel’s views on abortion were or whether he even gave the subject any thought. I do know that art speaks to different people in different ways, and the producer of the art is only half of the equation. Consumers make up the other half. And if Horton’s love of people “no matter how small” makes you think of a fetus, so be it.

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A Cognac for Cormac

These Days host Tom Fudge is a Cormac McCarthy fan and here he tells Culture Lust readers why.....

A Cognac for Cormac 
By Tom Fudge

I didn’t spend much time watching the Academy Awards on Sunday, but I watched enough to hear the news that No Country for Old Men won the award for best picture. I enjoyed the movie, and I’m sure the Coen brothers deserve a lot of credit for making it. But the person most responsible for that movie was the man who wrote the novel, Cormac McCarthy.

Cormac McCarthy has become my favorite writer. It’s rare to pick up a novel and be immediately blown away by the quality of the prose. But that’s what happens when you read McCarthy. And if you’ve seen the movie, No Country for Old Men, get a copy of the novel. You’ll be struck by how much the scenes in the movie owe to the book. I don’t think this happened because Joel and Ethan Coen revere McCarthy. They simply realized there was no way to improve on McCarthy’s dialogue and descriptions.

One of the first things you notice, when reading McCarthy, is that he doesn’t use quotation marks when he’s writing dialogue. Here’s one example, from No Country, in which the killer, Chigurh, interrogates the owner of a gas station. If you saw the movie, you’ll remember this scene. Chigurh hears the owner say he goes to bed at about 9:30, then he says:

I could come back then.
We’ll be closed then.
That’s all right.
Well why would you be comin back? We’ll be closed.
You said that.
Well we will.
You live in that house behind the store?
Yes I do.
You’ve lived here all your life?
The proprietor took a while to answer. This was my wife’s father’s place, he said. Originally.
You married into it.
If that’s the way you want to put it.
I don’t have some way to put it. That’s the way it is.
Well I need to close now.

I’ve often thought writing is a visual medium because you see the written words. When your eyes pass over dialogue like McCarthy’s, you’re struck by how perfectly it captures the essence of the words and the drama of the situation. His method of leaving out punctuation is one way he does that.

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Culture Lust Talks Oscars…for Three Hours!!!!

That's right, I've decided to live blog the 80th Annual Academy Awards.  We know it's the 80th because they've been telling us on the red carpet for the last hour! 

By the way, I watched the Independent Spirit Awards this morning (rebroadcast on IFC) and it was soooooo good.  I'm hoping the Oscars is close to it in quality and entertainment, but I highly doubt it.  I must have updated my Netflix list 20 times during the show.  

On to the red carpet..... 

5:03 p.m. - George Clooney just invited Regis Philbin to Italy.  I'm guessing Joan Rivers never got that invite.

5:10 p.m. - Regis is now talking to Miley Cyrus.  Who???? Exactly, no idea.  It turns out she's Disney famous.  She's Hannah Montana. 

5:12 p.m. - Faye Dunaway scares me.

5:14 p.m. - Helen Mirren is so amazing.  She looks fantastic, claiming that her red gown is inspired by her latest role as a brothel madam.  She also said she's excited to present the Best Actor award, and then mentioned that there aren't as many good roles out there for women.  I think Helen Mirren should run for president.  

5:17 p.m. - Daniel Day Lewis and Rebecca Miller on the carpet.  Rebecca Miller is one of the most talented writers in Hollywood and because of that she can be as kooky as she wants - and let me tell you, she's wearing the kookiest dress I've seen tonight.  But you know what?  Let's just praise kooky for a minute.  The Oscars has become so earnest and tasteful.  Where's Cher, and Bjork, and that Native American woman who stood in for Marlon Brando?  Here's to Rebecca Miller and her kooky dress!  Hopefully, Julian Schnabel will wear his fancy pajamas.

5:26 p.m. - I'm nervous for Jon Stewart. 

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Julian Schnabel On Arts Coverage

Sunday morning.  I'm watching CBS Sunday Morning - one of the most civilized programs on television - and Serena Altschul is interviewing painter and award-winning filmmaker Julian Schnabel.  He's talking about the scene in his film Basquiat where Christopher Walken, as an art critic, is interviewing Jean-Michel Basquiat, played by Jeffrey Wright.  The scene is a pretty damning portrayal of art critcs.  In the Sunday Morning interview, Schnabel continues his criticism, going after The New York Times arts section and its title: Arts & Leisure.

Schnabel says, "What do arts and leisure have in common?  It's an oxymoron."  I agree the conflation of arts and leisure, as well as arts and entertainment, is frustrating.  I did think it was ironic, however, that Schnabel was making the point that arts and leisure don't mix, all the while dressed in his signature pajamas.  

Culture Lust Is Back

A lot has happened while Culture Lust was in the shop. 

Everyone continues to be shocked by the tragic death of 28-year-old actor Heath Ledger.   His passing has movie critics citing the deaths of James Dean, River Phoenix and even Marilyn Monroe as comparable stars who died as their careers were beginning to peak. 

I thought Ledger was making good career choices and am saddened that his life and work is cut short.  Brokeback Mountain had its problems and pleasures – one of the latter is the scene where Ennis discovers his and Jack’s shirts entwined in the back of Jack’s closet.  Ledger’s performance there broke my heart. 

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I Wanna Juno Hamburger Phone!

It's Juno's hamburger phone!

You know, Juno's using it in the movie when she says..."Can you hold on for a second? I'm on my hamburger phone. It's just... like... really awkward to talk on." I think she hits the phone a few times after this.

Here's Beth testing out her new hamburger phone...

And there's Beth pressing the "cheese" to make a call. Believe it or not, the thing actually works!

Love the phone, but still think the best line of the film comes when Juno tells her best friend she's pregnant and her friend says..."are you sure it's not just a food baby?"

Juno just struck No. 1 at the Box Office this weekend.

CORRECTION: Juno is No. 1 at the Box Office as of today, not this past weekend.

There Will Be Blood

Director Paul Thomas Anderson with Daniel Day-Lewis

Last night I saw a screening for Paul Thomas Anderson's new movie There Will Be Blood (it opens in area theaters this weekend). During the first 15 minutes of the film, which were an exceptional 15 minutes, I was both thrilled and stunned.

Those 15 minutes have no dialogue. There are abrupt shots of stark desert landscapes, still and beckoning. Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood composed the score and it shocks the system when you first hear it - with it's loud, discordant strings. It lends tension and momentum throughout, but during the opening scene you come to understand its centrality to Anderson's creative vision.

Then there is the opening action. The experience of mining for silver in a deep cavernous hole with rickety wooden stairs as the only escape. We move quickly to rudimentary efforts at getting oil from even greater depths. The darkness and muck, the viscous slop covering our protagonist, who we only see in shafts of light. It's claustrophobic. Whatever goes up, can easily come barreling down this narrow depth and Anderson's camera makes sure we see it all fall in force. We are in a hole, covered in oil, trying to breathe, fearful to look up. It's an unnerving, wholly effective sequence. It's also strangely beautiful in its power.

But the energy of this opening is not in its style. There are no fancy tracking shots, something Anderson is certainly prone to (Boogie Nights). It's in the drama of the work, the danger of the place, and the focus and determination of a character who has yet to speak one word.

You soon realize Anderson has made an old-fashioned movie epic and he's done so with tremendous skill. The story is based on Upton Sinclair's muckraking novel Oil!, which Anderson is said to have picked up in a London bookstore. He loved it so much, he decided to adapt it for the screen. It's really an odd choice for him, a young filmmaker whose earlier works, Hard Eight, Boogie Nights and Magnolia, gave him a reputation as an edgy, very contemporary filmmaker. This is a period film with classic written all over it. He's conversing with the old masters here, not the young turks of the 90's or today.

It helped Anderson's project that Daniel Day-Lewis plays his protagonist, Daniel Plainview. Plainview is, as he notes often, "an oilman... a family man." He's also an entrepreneurial rogue determined to make his fortune without the help of burgeoning oil companies like Standard Oil.

Plainview is powerful and shrewd, but not without charisma. Daniel Day-Lewis is Daniel Plainview in every gesture and word. I kept thinking about how penetrating his eyes were - not the eyes of Daniel Day-Lewis, but those of Daniel Plainview. I was so completely lost in his portrayal. It is, as many critics have already noted, a performance that will be talked about for years.

Plainview is not a man to be liked, though you do at times. It's hard not to respect his determination, couched as it is in our mythology of the American dream. But Plainview can too easily access his brutality, like Charles Foster Kane or Michael Corleone before him, in order to achieve and sustain his dreams of power and money. Anderson's film fits nicely in a lineage of films about America -- the story of capitalism, of individualism, of taming and exploiting the land, and of our country's long and complicated relationship with religion.

I thought No Country for Old Men was my favorite film of the year, and I'll admit to enjoying it more for its facility with suspense and clever, funny dialogue. There Will Be Blood is not as enjoyable; it's more visceral and penetrating, raw and powerful. It is a real achievement and I don't think I'll forget what it was like to see it for a long time.