If by some divine chance the gods smiled on you like they smiled on me then you must have, at some point in your life, been a little boy. I’m sure little girls had it made too, but from first-hand experience I can attest that being a little boy was golden-euphoria. And being a little boy that bore witness to 1987’s Predator was as magical as rubbing your eyes till rainbows.
The film was a revelation because it represented everything a little boy might dream adulthood could be. It featured big muscles, giant guns, a scary monster, disgusting wounds and sublimely badass dialogue.
Webster’s definition of tough guy dialogue: “I ain’t got time to bleed.” - 1987’s Predator
Being a little boy at the time of glory, the film reiterated to me, at an exponential degree, the same narrative that had been running fevered laps in my brain. That narrative being, simply: humans vs. monsters (aliens fall under monsters, as anything that isn’t US is THEM). And having lived a decade and a half since that first viewing, I can still say with utmost confidence that monsters have never been as cool as the Predator. Laser-sights, gnarly fingers, invisibility-camouflage and a face full of JESUSCHRIST fright. He was the James Dean of monsters.
WHY MONSTERS? Because the banality of it all can be too much unless tempered with giddy-terror. This is why the scene with Billy on the log influenced me more profoundly than the French New Wave.
Adding to the accrued fear, this particular monster hunts us. While monsters are hopefully always scary, monsters that methodically hunt humans like humans hunt deer (taking spinal chords and skulls as trophies), strikes a wonderfully primal blow to the yellow-belly we all possess. Especially when you are young enough to believe evil floats through every shadow.
For all the above-mentioned reasons I was Citizen Kane-”Rosebud”-obsessed with Predator and it was the first DVD I ever purchased.
Predator 2, while having it’s share of beauty-madness, didn’t touch the transcendence of the first one. Those in charge believed they were raising the stakes by moving the anti-villain to the big city and having him go head-to-head with Danny Glover. What they failed to realize was that there is nothing as remarkable as Arnold Schwarzenegger and a monster in the middle of the jungle. Sorry. Nothing is as remarkable. Danny Glover is a fine actor, but the sequel was doomed from the get-go. For me it had a crude sensibility and unbalanced focus. That being said, I still enjoyed it. It just didn’t give me the same crippling bouts of pleasure-fear.
The next generation of films were the Alien vs. Predator blah-blahs. They were striving for the admirable goal of creating the apex of badassery with the combination of the two franchises but the result was a relegation of both monsters’ intimidation. It became a tedious chess match between two once-vital threats (with forgettable actors playing the forgettable bystanders). The movies made boatloads of green at the box office but felt like different worlds. Predator just wasn’t James Dean anymore.
So, when a franchise loses relevance Hollywood does what Hollywood does. REBOOT, REMIX. It milks the property dry. This time the film will be called Predators and will be produced by Robert Rodriguez.
The just-named director of the new film will be Nimrod Antal. I can get behind a choice like this. I thought his first effort, Kontroll, was a wily blend of comedy and suspense. And his follow-up Vacancy was a nice little punch to the gut. I’m intrigued to see what he can do with a big-time budget and a producer that thoroughly believes in the sacred go-for-broke aesthetic. The new film is said to take place on the Predator’s home planet which, if done correctly, could remind me what made this beast so close to my heart. Or it could just be overkill on top of overkill.
Regardless, I was still a little boy when I saw the original. So I’ve had my Christmas morning.
As we started to polish up the next episode of the Penny Jam (our ongoing video series), it occurred to me that we hadn’t posted the most recent episode, number 24 featuring Explode into Colors.
It’s been getting some loving on the internet, and for good reason. Explode into Colors brings the energy like a bobcat in a burlap sack - and in this case they brought it four or five times over the course of the shoot - and from what they told us it’s one of their more technically and physically challenging songs. We filmed it in the Grand Ballroom at the Portland Art Museum, where just the night before John Scofield played during the Portland Jazz Festival. I couldn’t help feel really lucky to have access to such a great space. Then I cried. Then I stopped and we filmed this great video. Enjoy!
So last night I was poking around on Youtube looking for something to tuck me in and I stumbled accross this well-shot, 15-minute documentary. Ben Folds Presents: Unviersity A Cappella!.
I’m no aficionado but I do enjoy A Capella quite a bit. I think my appreciation comes from living with a guy in college who was in a group that proved just how awesome the form could be by attracting huge crowds for their free outdoor performances and busting out songs by unlikely groups like Radiohead and yes, Ben Folds. Here is a quote from Mr. Fold’s site:
Do not underestimate the genre. These vocal bands tour the country. They’ve performed on The Late Show With David Letterman, on Saturday Night Live, on The West Wing. They record albums (some costing upwards of $30,000 to produce). And in unbelievably large numbers, they’re covering the songs of Ben Folds.
Aside from tapping into a creative base that embraces his music, I think that what Ben Folds has done here is an awesome direction for the music/video relationship. As someone who shoots a fair amount of music related video (i.e. http://thepennyjam.com) I’m always in deep thought trying to hatch new projects that are neither 1) run of the mill or 2) gimmicky. By taking the reins he’s achieved a grand scope, maintained quality control and provided a built-in story. And if you’ve ever been a music writer you probably relate to that - having a story keeps things colorful, and helps you from infusing too much snarky, self-important, music-writery prose to carry your writing.
And it’s working. Some of the publications that’ve picked up this story: The Wall Street Journal, Entertainment Weekly, NPR Music, Baltimore Sun (lots more) and most likely the college publications of every group involved. So my hat’s off to you Mr. Folds - a classy move indeed. I’d love to see more video projects such as this one, focusing confidently on an artist-centric catalog. The album is available now.
I’m glad to live in a world where awesomeness can still lurk quietly nearby, only to be discovered through chance occurrences. While on a IMDB vision quest in search of the works of prolific writer/actor Robert Smigel (who among other things, plays Triumph the Insult Comic Dog) I stumbled upon Lookwell, the pilot episode of a 1991 TV show written by Smigel and Conan O’Brien and produced by SNL maestro Lorne Michaels.
The show follows a washed up TV actor Ty Lookwell (played by Adam West) as he attempts to solve real crimes. During the course of the episode he teaches acting classes, bothers the real cops and justifies his daydreaming: “Sorry, used to play a detective. Mind can’t help but make deductions.”
Smigel and O’Brien’s unique wit is on obvious display here. And their use of Adam West as a kitschy cult icon foreshadowed West’s role as a caricature of himself in shows like The Fairly OddParents and Family Guy. From what I read, the Youtube version posted above is slightly different than the original, with some alternate jokes and music. But considering how hard it is to find an original version online, I’m pretty damn fulfilled by this one.
Instead of attempting to navigate the haze of genre-identification in the realm of music I’ll drop Portland duo Mattress into the sub-genre of Gnarly. The tunes, full of atmosphere and off-the-rails confidence, can’t adequately be lumped into a one-line description. And this is a principal reason why I’m so smitten.
Case in point: this video, recorded from Starfucker’s latest CD release party at Holocene. The projected footage is a direct feed from a second camera (manned by Scott Carver) that we were using to help shed a little light on the frame. Sound by Matt Huiskamp. The song is ROLL ROLL ROLL though, if given all-I-can-eat druthers, I’d rename it RAD RAD RAD.
