PUBLIC ENEMIES (2009, directed by Michael Mann, 140 minutes, U.S.) BY DAN BUSKIRK FILM CRITIC It should have been a natural: action director Michael Mann and the Dillinger legend. Tommy guns, fedoras, prison breaks and the final gundown in the streets of Chicago; it is easy to imagine the tough-minded Mann making one of his most compelling films out of these elements. Such a film may be easy for Mann fans to imagine it but somehow the possibilities have completely escaped Mann himself, who has against all odds served up a joyless and unmoving portrait of the final year of […]
TIME CAPSULE: Jacksons Sign To Philly International
Standing L-R: Tito Jackson, Randy Jackson, Michael Jackson, Marlon Jackson, Jackie Jackson. Seated L-R: Joe Jackson, Leon Huff, Kenneth Gamble. Photo taken in 1976 in Mr. Gamble’s office at Philadelphia International Records. WIKIPEDIA: In 1975, Joseph negotiated a new recording contract with CBS Records, who offered a royalty rate of 20% per record, compared to Motown’s standard 2.8%; and would allow the Jackson brothers to write and produce their own records and play their own instruments. After unsuccessfully attempting to talk the group into staying on the label, Motown sued for breach of contract. Although Motown eventually let the group […]
MAILBAG: California Dreamin’
EDITOR’S NOTE: The following was posted in the COMMENTS section last night by Bdogg. I have been living in the 215 for a stretch now & you know what I rep…i’m a L.a nigga & all that hateing add up to nothing. I had some run ins wit philly niggaz since I been here & i’m still standing, had 2 put a lil work in but let me stop becausa a nigga aint fin ta snitch on himself & no disrespect but philadelphia is a playground compared to L.a even tho philly was the murder capitol for a couple of […]
PAINFUL: FDA Advisory Panel Votes To Ban Vicodin
NEW YORK TIMES: A federal advisory panel voted narrowly on Tuesday to recommend a ban on Percocet and Vicodin, two of the most popular prescription painkillers in the world, because of their effects on the liver. The two drugs combine a narcotic with acetaminophen, the ingredient found in popular over-the-counter products like Tylenol and Excedrin. High doses of acetaminophen are a leading cause of liver damage, and the panel noted that patients who take Percocet and Vicodin for long periods often need higher and higher doses to achieve the same effect. Acetaminophen is combined with different narcotics in at least […]
EARLY WORD: Let Us Now Praise Steven Wells
PW: Most public battles with cancer are cast as heroic. Wells would have none of that bollocks. He was scared shitless, and said as much because it’s the only reasonable human response. He was mad as hell at the unfairness of it all, because, again, it is the only reasonable response. And by the end he was sick of it all—the pain, the indignity, and the boredom of dying. What made Steven heroic was his willingness to say as much for publication, in lieu of some phony brave face. If nothing else, he innovated the lost art of dying honestly. […]
GHOULISH: Jacko Autopsy Report Leaks
THE SUN: The examination showed the 5ft 10in star — once famed for his on-stage athleticism — had: PLUNGED to a “severely emaciated” [112 lbs.] It is understood anorexic Jackson had been eating just one meagre meal a day. Pathologists found his stomach empty aside from partially-dissolved pills he took before the painkiller injection which stopped his heart. Samples were sent for toxicology tests. LOST virtually all his hair. The pop pin-up was wearing a wig when he died and pathologists said little more than “peach fuzz” covered his scalp. A scarred section of skin above his left ear was […]
PIMPIN’ AIN’T EASY: Richest Man In Town In Dispute
INQUIRER: Josh Kopelman doesn’t seem to agree. A book titled The Richest Man in Town calls the young enterpreneur/venture capitalist the wealthiest self-made person in Philadelphia. But Kopelman hated the title, said author W. Randall Jones, who traveled to 100 U.S. cities and towns to compile the collection of business wisdom, published last month by Hatchett Book Group. “He was very upset with me,” said Jones. Perhaps the reason was that others, like Richard Hayne, founder of Urban Outfitters, have better claim to the title. Hayne has been on Forbes’ billionaire list several times, but was one of dozens who […]
CONTEST: Win A Sonic Youth Dream Date
Sonic Youth is like a chronic girlfriend we keep breaking up with, if only because the make-up sex is so good. We’ve been on board — and occasionally off — ever since Bad Moon Rising, ever since we heard that mesmerizing wall of abstract expressionist guitars graffiti’d with the immortal words: “A genius and a sex maniac, taking lots of drugs and fucking all day.” Man, nice work if you can get it! The just-out The Eternal is a remarkable late-period return to form from a band we’ve written off more times than we care to admit. Anyway, if you’ve […]
MINNESOTA SUPREME COURT: Al Franken Won!
REUTERS: The Minnesota Supreme Court on Tuesday declared Democrat Al Franken the winner of a tight U.S. Senate race over Republican Norm Coleman, which should give Democrats the 60-seat majority they need to overcome procedural obstacles and push through their agenda. Coleman has said in published reports he is unlikely to appeal the state court’s decision to the federal courts. Under state law, the court’s decision gives Franken the right to occupy the seat, which has been up for grabs since last November’s election. Minnesota Republican Governor Tim Pawlenty has said he will certify the election winner based on what […]
INFINITE SUMMER: Let’s All Make Love In Jest
[“Butterfly Suicide II” by DoNotAttempt] BY DAVE ALLEN News of “Infinite Summer,” the just-launched group-read of David Foster Wallace’s massive and masterful tome Infinite Jest in just over three months — or roughly 75 pages a week — spread at a near-viral pace, at least in the literary world. The initiative, sort of an invisible national book club, launched on June 21st with both an official site and Facebook group recruiting “endurance bibliophiles.” If that sounds like you, get a move on because according to the web site: Infinite Summer is 9% complete. I’m not participating, in part because I […]
I, GAMER: The Agony Of Defeat
BY ADAM BONANNI Last week, Jimmy Fallon earned his late night smack-talk stripes by beating Tiger Woods at his own game. More specifically, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 for the Wii. Although Tiger won a re-match on the Late Show, ensuring that the next edition of the game won’t be titled Jimmy Fallon’s PGA TOUR 11, but the damage was already done. Fallon’s humiliating victory over Woods was all over television, and innumerable clips of it currently reside on the Internet (you can watch a YouTube of it below). And consider that Gamespot’s review of the game called it “as […]
USELESS INFORMATION: Lohan’s MJ Twitter Tribute
A picture of me, in my panties! Michael SO would have wanted this. [VIA TWITTER] PREVIOUSLY: THE RESURRECTION OF MICHAEL
DEATH ON THE PIAZZA: Drug Hit Plot Thickens
DAILY NEWS: Kidnapped and robbed by drug dealers in 2004, party planner Rian Thal turned mum after her release, refusing to identify her captors. The 34-year-old blonde’s silence spurred her rise “from hanger-on to one of the players,” a law-enforcement source said. She became a “big-time drug dealer,” supplying heavy quantities of her specialty, powder cocaine, to other dealers, and at least once sold Ketamine, an animal tranquilizer known as “Special K,” another source said. The revelations about her secret life emerged yesterday during Daily News interviews with law-enforcement and other sources familiar with her drug dealing and other activities.Homicide […]