FUNERAL PARADE OF ROSES (1969, dir. by Toshio Matsumoto, 98 minutes, U.S.) THE EMBRYO HUNTS IN SECRET (1966, dir. by K?ji Wakamatsu, 72 minutes, Japan.) BY DAN BUSKIRK FILM CRITIC Most films series are curated very systematically — movies from the same director or lead actor, etc. What makes the Rotunda’s long-running series Andrew’s Video Vault so consistently rewarding is the more intuitive pairings that are offered monthly. Although tonight’s pairing of two taboo-shattering Japanese films of the 1960s, there are both fascinating similarities and differences between these wild, wild films. Director Toshio Matsumoto’s Funeral Parade of Roses […]
TECH: Rupert Murdoch Leaning On Congressional Stooges To Kill The ‘Free Ice Cream’ Era Of Internet
[Illustrations by ALEX FINE] HUFFINGTON POST: News Corp. honcho Rupert Murdoch threw his weight behind Congress’ attempt to restrict the Internet, personally lobbying leaders on Capitol Hill Wednesday for two measures that purport to combat piracy. Murdoch’s media empire is among some 350 large corporations that have come out in favor of the Stop Online Piracy Act in the House, as well as the Protect IP Act in the Senate. Both measures would require Internet operators to police activity online, and would mandate Internet giants like Google and AOL (the parent company of The Huffington Post and an opponent of […]
Occupy Atomizes Into Dozens Of Flash Protests Nationwide; 60 Arrested At K Street Shutdown; 12 Arrested At Supreme Court; In S.F. Occupiers Outnumber Cops; Foreclosed Home Occupied In NY
ASSOCIATED PRESS: More than five dozen protesters upset about what they call corporate greed and the excessive influence of money in politics were arrested Wednesday after shutting down K Street, home to many of Washington’s lobbying firms, in a mass demonstration that snarled midday traffic in the nation’s capital. Demonstrators from across the US converged for the Washington march that included participants from Occupy Wall Street encampments as well as other groups, including unions, sympathetic to their message of income inequality. Organizers said they expected several thousand people in Washington this week for days of activism, almost three months after […]
RAWK TAWK: Q&A w/ Pere Ubu/Rocket From The Tombs Frontman/Main Brain David Thomas
BY BRYAN BIERMAN Let’s start by saying this: Pere Ubu’s The Modern Dance is the greatest album ever made. Possibly. Released in 1978, the band took only the great parts of punk rock then shuffled it around, adding musique concrete tape noise and free-jazz sax solos. It was the perfect blend of rock ‘n’ roll and avant-garde—you don’t fully understand it at first, but it still makes you want to head into the garage and try your hand at emulating it. ??But by the time of its release, lead singer David Thomas had already inspired a legion of bands in […]
REVIEW: The Roots Undun
BY MATTHEW HENGEVELD Growing up with icons like the Beatles, Miles Davis, Bob Dylan, Michael Jackson, James Brown, etc etc., you might assume that success in the music biz would lead to some extraordinary fame. You’d think that universal critical acclaim, two decades of hard road work, a repertoire of thousands of songs, a diehard fan base and over 10 loved albums would lead to some excellent payoff, right? Like, having your face on some billboards; a roving mob of half-clothed women; or a helicopter… at least a helicopter. But, superstardom is far from reality for everyone’s favorite afro-havin’ drummer, […]
SH*T MY UNCLE SAYS: War Is Over, The Drugs Won
BY WILLIAM C. HENRY Watching Rick Perry have a brain fart over which departments he was going to dismantle immediately upon assuming the Presidency got me to wondering why none of the Republican Presidential wannabes are pledging to axe the only federal “agency” that truly is, and always has been, a bona fide American anathema. I’m talking about the one Richard Nixon euphemistically dubbed the “War on Drugs,” and later christened the Drug Enforcement Administration or D.E.A.; an utterly useless bureaucracy that has never accomplished even a smidgen of its chartered reason for being; a tribute to phony promise, false […]
‘You Talkin’ To Me? I Don’t See Nobody Else…’
[Artwork by M©] RELATED: The generally accepted consensus among Scorsese proselytes cites this sequence, from John Huston’s Reflections in a Golden Eye (1967) as Robert DeNiro’s prime source of inspiration behind Travis Bickle’s legendary mirror scene in Taxi Driver. The following findings are about to throw film history a curve ball. After decades of eye-straining research, the truth behind the source of Travis’ psycho-soliloquy can at last be revealed. The following scene was lifted verbatim from Michael Gordon’s relatively obscure 1965 Rock Hudson/Leslie Caron romantic comedy, A Very Special Favor. MORE THE COLONEL: So untrue. Bobby De Niro and Marty […]
EARLY WORD: Fleetwood Mac Preservation Society
Nearly two years after they performed Lindsey Buckingham’s enduring creative statement, the 1979 Fleetwood Mac double-album TUSK, at shows in Boston, Brooklyn, and Philadelphia – joyous gigs that pleased both the old heads in faded Buckingham-Nicks bootleg tees and young’uns probably conceived while RUMOURS spun in the background – indie rock not-so-supergroup THE LINDSEY BUCKINGHAM APPRECIATION SOCIETY returns to perform Fleetwood Mac’s 1982 album MIRAGE in its entirety, along with select Mac and solo Buckingham gems at two shows: Friday, February 17 at Johnny Brenda’s in Philadelphia, and Saturday, February 18 at Littlefield in Brooklyn.
WORTH REPEATING: Food Trucks R The New Black
[artwork by MITCH] ?UESTLOVE: I did a few DJ gigs out on the West Coast, and these really great, awesome food trucks would be outside selling weird specialty things. This one guy was selling his “world famous” roasted corn. So at 3 in the morning, I’m watching these people kill all this Mexican corn. And I was like, “Man, I want a food truck.” I imagined having a “Soul on a Roll” Mister Softee truck that served good soul food. It’s sort of like “be careful what you ask for.” In a perfect world, I would like to have a […]
Scientist Mutates New Strain Of Flu Virus That Will Kill Us All; Wants To Publish ‘How To’ Instructions
DAILY MAIL: A group of scientists is pushing to publish research about how they created a man-made flu virus that could potentially wipe out civilisation. The deadly virus is a genetically tweaked version of the H5N1 bird flu strain, but is far more infectious and could pass easily between millions of people at a time. The research has caused a storm of controversy and divided scientists, with some saying it should never have been carried out. The current strain of H5N1 has only killed 500 people and is not contagious enough to cause a global pandemic. But their are fears […]
RIP: Ex-RAM Squad Rapper/Crack Dealer Tommy Hill Gunned Downed Outside Mount Airy Bar
INQUIRER: Philadelphia rap star Tommy Hill – a key member of the group RAM Squad – died Sunday morning, two days after being shot in an apparent robbery outside an East Mount Airy bar, police sources said. Hill, whose given name was John Wilson, had been living in Atlanta since serving two years in prison on federal drug charges and since the RAM Squad’s breakup. Hill launched his career in the late 1990s with the help of former mob boss Joseph “Skinny Joey” Merlino, and federal authorities later pressured him to cooperate with investigations into drug dealing and City Hall […]
Q&A With The New Yorker‘s Susan Orlean
Susan Orlean has written for Rolling Stone, Vogue and Esquire. She has been a staff writer at the New Yorker since 1992 and has published two collections of her work for the magazine: 2001’s The Bullfighter Checks Her Makeup: My Encounters with Extraordinary People and 2004’s My Kind of Place: Travel Stories from a Woman Who’s Been Everywhere. However, she is probably best-known as the fictionalized version of herself played by Meryl Streep in Adaptation, Spike Jonze/Charlie Kaufman’s transmogrification her 1998 bestseller The Orchid Thief. She will be appearing at the Free Library tomorrow night to promote her latest book […]
RIP: Hubert Sumlin, Blues Traveler, Dead At 80
CHICAGO SUN-TIMES: Hubert Sumlin, who made his name as the slash-and-burn guitarist for Chicago blues great Howlin’ Wolf before embarking on an illustrious solo career, died Sunday in a hospital in Wayne, N.J., reportedly of heart failure. The Chicago bluesman had turned 80 years old on Nov. 16. A week later, Rolling Stone magazine unveiled a list citing him as one of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time. MORE NEW YORK TIMES: Born in 1931 in Greenwood, Miss., Mr. Sumlin, who took up the guitar at age 6, first met his own musical mentor, Howlin’ Wolf, at a roadhouse […]