Diggin' to China

2011 In Review : The Films (pt 1)

2012-01-22T19:05:00.000-08:00

Over all it was a bit of strange year for films, devastating US economic downturns made it the poorest box office season since 1996. A bit more of a handful managed to peek out past a crowd of clambering comic book adaptions, dueling robots and cliche-ridden rom-coms.

   Here is a brief look back at a few of our favorite films of 2011 (listed in no particular order).

Melancholia (dir. Lars Von Triers)    Denmark

    Depression and Opulence at the end of the world reign supreme in controversial Danish director (and personal hero) Lars Von Triers' science fiction drama Melancholia. It's a film that finds hope in the hopeless, a stunning use of the opera Tristan and Isolde and the best performance of Kirsten Dundst (Virgin Suicides, Marie Antoinette) career as an emotionally ruined bride Justine opposite powerhouse Charlotte Gainsbourg (best actress winner at Cannes for Von Triers' previous film Antichrist). Rounding out the cast that is packed to the gills with talent is both Alexander and Stellan Skarsgård, Charlotte Rampling, Kiefer Sutherland, Brady Corbit, and John Hurt

Beginners (dir. Mike Mills)               USA

      Ewan McGregor and Christopher Plummer star in Mike Mills' second film (following his solid debut Thumbsucker) a semi-autobiographical love letter to romance, to fathers and sons and to living life in the face of fear. Inglorious Bastard's face of Jewish vengeance Melanie Laurent gives a rapturous performance as a french actress on location in the states who meets a grief stricken Ewan McGregor and Arthur (played by Cosmo the Jack Russell Terrier in an awards worth performance) Bouncing back in forth in time we meet Christopher Plummer a widower-father who at the age of 75 comes out as a gay man and looks for love in a strange new world only to quickly discover he is dying of terminal cancer. It's a film of extreme emotional restraint and tender beauty. Possibly a perfect film.

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (dir. David Fincher) USA

     Okay... so an English language remake of a Swedish film based on a Swedish novel that is less than two years is absolutely unnecessary- much like last year's surprisingly good Let Me In (remaking the superb Let The Right One In) No one, no matter how good, can match the ferocity of Swedish actress Noomi Rapace (in a star making role that has led to the highly anticipated Prometheus) bringing Lisbeth Salander to life the first (three) time around but Rooney Mara does an admirable job pinning the character with a younger vulnerability to match her intensity and closed off brilliance.While the some of the content is toned down slightly and tweaked for better flow the film's cinematography and direction are nothing short of sumptuous. It's exactly what you'd expect from David Fincher, and his fine cast of Daniel Craig, Christopher Plummer (again) Robin Wright and Stellan Skarsgård. The score from Nine Inch Nails rocker turned Oscar™ winner Trent Reznor and Atticus Finch (Fincher's The Social Network) is nothing short of gorgeous. It's easy listening in an icy hell.

Weekend (dir. Andrew Haigh)    UK

    Arguably one of the true standout films of 2011 Weekend tells a deceptively simple story of two people who meet, have sex and hangout for one weekend in their lives. That the two people both happen to be male is largely irrelevant as the emotional weight and relevance of the film transcends all boundaries. Chris New and Tom Cullen give performances that are so raw and devastatingly honest that you don't know whether to cry or cheer or both. It's present tense documentary -like approach grabs hold of the viewer and expresses the longing and fleeting beauty of love, lust and attraction as well as the turmoil and fear it brings. Highly highly recommended.

Troll Hunter (dir. André Overdal) Norway

With maddening glee Troll Hunter steps up and renders all other mockumentary horror films useless. The tale of a documentary team following a scoop in the wilderness sounds similar to the groundbreaking and instantly redundant Blair Witch Project, but that is where the similarities end. Troll Hunter is a wildly entertaining tale of secret agencies, real life giant Scandinavian trolls, faked bear deaths and inventive effects. Solid performances abound, exhilarating action sequences, great creature effects and humor turn this into an instant classic. A true gem of modern genre film making, a film that remembers to be fun and entertaining in a year full of darkness.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes (dir. Rupert Wyatt)    USA

    A reboot to a long dormant series (Tim Burton's remake notwithstanding) has absolutely no business being this heart-wrenching, thought provoking well acted and technically innovative. How is it that one finds themselves typing Rise of the Planet of The Apes is one of the best films of 2011??? But it is. Over all 2011 was a fine year for genre films, particularly science fiction. James Franco, John Lithgow, Frida Pinta, Brian Cox- all pale in comparison to Andy Serkis' motion-captured performance as Caesar, a hyper intelligent ape born of tragedy and human experimentation. It's a thrilling moralistic film that is a crowd pleasing as it ambitious. Serkis' performance is being lauded by critics even though he is technically "animated" and has been nominated for numerous awards including a Golden Globe for best supporting actor and considerable Oscar Buzz. A really great piece of smart commercial film making.

A Remake, A Reboot and A Prequel: 3 films that worked despite themselves.

2011-12-19T16:45:00.000-08:00

   When it comes to the the genres of science-fiction and horror Hollywood churns them out in xerox fashion, waits a few years and then churns out more sequels, prequels, and remakes. 2011 had a glut of these (though less than some years) in-between bouts of superhero flicks of varying degrees of success.
   Much to this writer's surprise three genre films stuck out defying the conventions of the modern recycling trend. While none best their source material, each in their own way crafts their tales with surprising results- one even headed for the Academy Awards in what could be a groundbreaking nomination, but more on that later.
   All three had respected actors, not slumming, but elevating the material to quality genre fair; smart, relevant scripts and surprisingly nifty FX. One of the batch traded in dark humor as much as bloody horror, one went for the gore and psychological nihilism and the third effortlessly thrilled while provoking a discussion about research, cruelty, animal rights, evolution and freedom.

Check out the list and why after the jump

The Remake:

My initial response to a remake of Fright Night was one of unmitigated outrage and repulsion. The campy late night fun and surprisingly queer casting choices of the 80's flick makes it a beloved genre classic. And what's this? No William Ragsdale cameo? How dare you! Then a funny thing happened...

I saw the script was by the remarkable Marti Noxon (writer for the critically acclaimed Buffy the Vampire Slayer) and directed by Craig Gillespie (Lars and the Real Girl) and boasted an insane cast: Colin Ferrell (um the Coline Ferrell Sex Tape!) , Anton Yelchin (Star Trek), David Tennant (Doctor Who), Toni Collette (United States of Tara) , Imogene Poots ( Christopher and his Kind), Dave Franco (Brother to James), Christopher Mintz-Plasse (Kick Ass), Reid Ewing (ABC's Modern Family) and , um, Lisa Loeb (?!)

2011's Fright Night finds the action shifted to Las Vegas, a city that truly never sleeps. This time around High schooler Charlie Brewster (Yelchin) has started the painful process of out growing Evil Ed , his best friend (Mintz-Plasse) and dating the ridiculously attractive Amy (Poots) . The film doesn't have the outsider bonding of the original, but perhaps its a reflection of our times, perhaps its simply more honest in that kids discard each other in search of popularity in high school. Collette is great as single mom and real estate agent Jane Brewster but the pair of aces in the film's arsenal are clearly Colin Ferrell's terrifying and magnetic take on vampire next door Jerry Danridge. While Chris Sarandon's original Jerry was a suave sophisticate seducing his victims and neighbors, Ferrell plays Jerry as serial killer, part shark part Ted Bundy. He's a rapist-torturer who eats his victims. He's also kind of lonely and watches a lot of infomercials. Watching Ferrell's eyes constantly darting about in scenes, surveying his surrounds was a refreshing return to form. If anything Fright Night serves to reset the scales , vampires don't glitter for teenage girls. They are monsters who feed on humans.

Perhaps the biggest change to the film and it's greatest attempt to own it's identify from the original is in the radical re-envisioning of the beloved cable access Horror Host vampire-killer Peter Vincent played by Hollywood legend Roddy McDowell in the original. Horror hosts are sadly a thing of the past for a modern generation. Here Doctor Who's brilliant David Tenant spins Peter Vincent into a manic Criss Angel style pansexual stage magician/alcoholic/tyrant . He's hysterical bold performance is wildly entertaining and begs for a sequel. While the original film stands as an exceptional 80's horror/comedy with tons of wit and heart in an era of cookie cutter slasher films, the more action-oriented remake shows that the violent yarn still has something to say to audiences.

The Prequel:

Universal Pictures, home to Hollywood's classic monsters, Dracula, the Wolf Man, The Mummy, Frankenstein and the Creature from the Black Lagoon. As the 40's veered into the 50's fear came not from the dark castles of Europe but from the dark skies above. Howard Hawkes The Thing from Outer Space is a classic of cold war sci-fi. It was remade simply as The Thing in 1982 by the incomparable John Carpenter Starring Kurt Russel and set in a remote Antarctic research lab. It was and remains a shocking, gory, brilliantly paced study in paranoia, body horror, and survival. Bleak and brutal, it was a box office flop that is now wisely considered one of the greatest sci-fi horror films of all time. In recent years John Carpenter has been a hot property for the remake. Assault on Precinct 13, Halloween, and The Fog have all been remade with varying degrees of success... So of course Universal in the flurry of cash-in remakes decided let's remake The Thing. Thankfully along the way, producers, screenwriters and a wise first time feature director Matthijs van Heijningen Jr.
intervened and crafted a smart, horrific under appreciated prequel set days before the 1982 film in the Norwegian Camp mentioned in the previous film.
Scott Pilgrim VS the World's Mary Elizabeth Winstead gives a solidly real performance reminiscent of Sigourney Weaver's iconic Ellen Ripley in Alien as a Kate Lloyd a paleontology grad student drafted to Antarctica to help identify and study a newly discovered "structure and specimen" . Kate, along with Aussie actor Joel Edgerton's helicopter pilot Sam Carter give us our every man heroism in the face of truly disturbing horror. Winstead's role serves to separate her from Kurt Russel's R.J. MacReady from Carpenter's film, she's the brains of the operation, not just brawn. Kate is one of two female roles in the film (the other being Kim Bubbs as Juliette) which is a refreshing contrast to the all-male 1982 film, which itself was a departure from the co-ed and female focused slasher films of that era. The Thing (2011) our prequel , which unfortunately has the exact same title as it's 1982 film, is solidly entertaining horror sci-fi film for adults. The attention to detail is pretty impeccable to match the look and feel of Carpenter's film and the FX are masterful works of Lovecraftian horror- Tentacled, inside out, genitalia-esque monstrosities. Some have criticized the reliance on CGI over practical effects.

Full disclosure I am a huge fan of practical , prosthetic effects, puppets, anything that can be done in-camera really. However, given then complexity of the film's content, the budget/schedule and the reality that in 2011- you use CGI as a tool for monster making folks- get over it, if Carpenter was making this film today you bet your ass he'd have employed the latest technology to make Wilfred Brimley even more frightening than he is as a diabetic oatmeal spokesman. The CGI has the look and feel we are expecting from the classics' spectacular designs as well as taking the mutations to insanely new levels of ferocity and mobility. It's a smart gruesome thrill ride that opens with a sucker punch of tension and ends brilliantly in a post-credit sequence that stitches the film to the the opening action of Carpenter's film. Despite any misgivings you might have you'll immediately want to make it a double feature rather than a compare an contrast.

THE REBOOT:

A sneaking suspicion arose the moment James Franco (he of boundless artistic outlets) signed on that Rise of The Planet of The Apes was going to be something remarkable, even though, by all reason this should have been absolute garbage. Rebooting the classic 60's-70's series after a failed attempt in early 2000's with Tim Burton's uneven remake of Planet of the Apes seemed like a fool's errand at best. What could we possibly say? Why a remake? Why a prequel? Why reboot is there nothing original left in any one's heads? the end result is arguably not only the best genre film of 2011 but also one of the best films of 2011. Rupert Wyatt ( British writer -director of The Escapist) handles the complex and astoundingly effective motion-capture CGI effects along side the realistic science, emotional gravity and occasionally charming humor that makes Rise (with its clunky title- though still better than The Things' uninspired title)an effectively heartbreaking family drama as much as summer spectacle sci-fi action flick. Andy Serkis is no stranger to groundbreaking effects having been the motion-capture actor for both Peter Jackson's breathtaking Gollum in The Lord of the Rings as well as an ape once before, cinema's greatest ape really, in Jackson's under rated epic remake of King Kong. Here, however, the powers that be seem to have taken notice of this growing frontier as Serkis has scored a well deserved Golden Globe Best Supporting actor nomination for his emotive and painful performance as Ceaser, a genetically enhanced Chimpanzee at the heart of Rise's exploration of science and evolution. A summer movie that is essentially about animal cruelty, Alzheimer's, humanity and civil rights is a rare thing and while the film asks serious questions and offers some bleak results it also is a ripping good yarn with some stunning set pieces. Leaves falling through San Francisco suburbs as the army of escapee apes swing through the branches is stuff of gorgeously inspired horror.

James Franco plays an impassioned research scientist attempting to cure Alzheimer's Disease and save his deteriorating father from the illness played with raw pathos by the always impeccable John Lithgow. Through a series of unsettiling events Franco steals away an infant chimp, names him Ceaser and raises the increasingly super intelligent ape as more of a son/brother than a pet. And there in lies the rub. Where is Ceasar's place in the world? Slumdog Millionaire's luminous Frieda Pinta co-stars as Franco's zoologist/vet lady love making them officially the sexiest on-screen scientists this year. It's worth noting with Franco and Pinta as lovers and English-Nigerian actor David Oyelowa as Franco's ambitious but cautious boss Rise of the Planet of the apes is the most racial diverse mainstream film this year (which is kind of sad that that was a noticeable exception).

Brian Cox turns in yet another understated and memorable performance as a sanctuary manager and as his younger song Harry Potter's Tom Felton ( HP's Draco Malfoy) turns in a solid American accent as a ruff-neck drunken bully making one wonder if he's corned the market on playing a a total cunt. The film however belongs to Ceaser and the wondrous effects of New Zealand's WETA digital (whom Serkis knows all too well via Jackson's epic films) . The apes are the soul of the film and with heartbreaking clarity pull focus to our own humanity and animalistic behavior. It also have overtones of the now global Occupy Movement with the film's final act. Several clever nods to the classic Charlton Heston -Roddy McDowell original film are scattered through-out the film (Bright Eyes, fire hosings, collars, apes on horseback) A worth while effort with a sequel in the works Rise of the Planet of the Apes is a perfect example of how science fiction and horror genres can be used to illustrate our own fears and hopes of our past, present and future.

Jack the Giant Killer

2011-12-15T18:07:00.000-08:00

Bryan Singer returns (this time without sympathetic Nazis) with a remake of the Ray Harryhausen FX classic Jack the Giant Killer . Singer directs the always captivating Nicholas Hoult (A Single Man, About A Boy, BBC's SKINS) as Jack as he tries to rescue a lost princess ( Eleanor Tomlinson) from the rampaging Giant of the Cloud Kingdom atop the iconic bean stalk . Co-Starring Ewan McGregor, Stanley Tucci, Warwick Davis, Ian McShane, Bill Nighy, Ewan Bremner and Eddie Marsan, making this Singer's "British" film. Ever since Hollywood realized fairy tales fell within the public domain and outside of Marvel and Christopher Nolan no one is getting superhero films right (DC -I'm looking you!) there have been a glut of productions for both the big and small screen. (Grimm, Once Upon a Time, Mirror Mirror, Snow White and the Huntsman, Red Riding Hood) .

Check out the first look after the jump...

It's (not just) A Man's World: defunkt Theatre takes on machismo, Mamet, and more in "Glengarry Glen Ross"

2011-10-13T12:56:00.000-07:00

David Mamet's Pulitzer Prize-winner Glengarry Glen Ross, perhaps not the first play that jumps to mind when one thinks of the Drammy award-winning work being staged at defunkt Theatre, know for such adventurous works as Sarah Kane's 4.48 Psychosis and Martin Crimp's Attempts on Her Life. But a second look at Mamet's heightened dialogue one realizes the masterful wordsmanship is as experimental and stylized as any deconstructed modern masterpiece. However not one to simply trot out Mamet's exploration of masculine cruelty under the gun of economics, defunkt has brilliantly cast two pivotal roles, Richard "Ricky" Roma and Shelley "The Machine " Levene with two phenomenal actresses-(Grace Carter and Lori Sue Hoffman in their return to the stage!) It's a testament to defunkt's fearlessness and focus and not stunt casting.

Directed by Tamara Carroll and featuring uniformly stellar performances from a cast with a collective five Drammy wins*. The Aformentioned Carter and Hoffman co-star with Spencer Conway, David Bellis-Squires, Matthew Kern, Garland Lyons, and Tom Mounsey in a timely tale of deception, greed and damaged male ego boiling over in a Chicago real estate office. The basic plot is that in one week, all but the top two salesmen will be fired, sparking a devastating chain reaction. The profanity laced all-male script was adapted by Mamet into a critically acclaimed (though commercially poor performing) film in 1992 starring Al Pacino and Jack Lemon. Written in 1984, Glengarry Glen Ross has become only more timely in light of the current economic downturn. defunkt Theater, who thrive in the realm of risky, challenging works (Willamette Week chose defunkt as "Essential Theater " deeming them the very apt "Good Taste" theater) have ingeniously queered Mamet's hyper-masculine text with mix gendered casting and with Matthew Kern's portrayal of the somewhat villainous office manager/whipping post Williamson at whom emasculating, homophobic barbs are launched as a gay man.

With Carter and Hoffman inhabiting the male roles the play becomes an exploration of women thriving and surviving in "a man's world" and what that means to femininity, compassion and gender dynamics. It becomes the accidental feminist, a document of the destruction of the American dream. Ripping open the dying carcass of the American dream and laying bare the lies it takes to close the deal, make the sale, sully the soul defunkt Theater have by far one of the most unexpectedly vibrant and exciting productions being staged this fall. We've come to expect no less from them.

defunkt Theater does more on a small budget than anyone else in the Pacific Northwest, having more pay-what-you-will/can nights than any other theater company in Portland. Their passion for theater makes vibrant, important works of art accessible to anyone on any budget.

Oct. 14-Nov. 19, 8 p.m.; The Back Door Theater, 4319 SE Hawthorne St.; $20; 503-481-2960 or defunktheatre.com.

* Grace Carter- 4.48 Psychosis
* Spencer Conway-, Fool For Love
* Lori Sue Hoffman- Doctor Faustus Lights the Lights
* Matthew Kern- 4.48 Psychosis
* Garland Lyons- Romance

Mattachine Social- "Risers"

2011-10-12T00:57:00.000-07:00

While Mattachine Social ready their full length proper album Our Heroes Bleed Glitter, check out the rockier track"Risers" as a teaser, with its silent-era horror film inspired video.

Avengers

2011-10-11T13:42:00.001-07:00

We finally get a proper teaser from the LONG awaited much ballyhooed Avengers film, directed by none other than Joss Whedon (Firefly/Serenity, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Toy Story). Iron Man, The Hulk, Thor, Hawkeye, Black Widow, Captain America ~~Wasp & Ant-man,~~ ~~Scarlett Witch~~ and ~~Vision~~ (oh wait they cut those guys, founding members be damned.....)

Anyhooooo, Tom Hiddleston (swoon) returns as somewhat villainous alien/god of mischief Loki forcing Marvels' mighty Avengers to finally assemble.

Glee gets Sesame Street Parody

2011-10-09T00:15:00.000-07:00

While Burt and Ernie might not be out gay Muppets (as opposed to Saddler and Waldorff who CLEARLY are) nothing is much gayer than FOX's hit musical ~~trainwreck~~ hit show GLEE about the lives, loves, and showtunes at McKinley High in Lima, Ohio (or rather on soundstages and in the mind of out creator Ryan Murphy (Nip/Tuck, Running With Scissors, American Horror Story). Well like sooo many amazing popular shows that are really not appropriate for toddlers like Law & Order:SVU, Twin Peaks, and True Blood GLEE gets their own parody for the diaper set on the greatest block ever, Sesame Street!

Now these are some gay Muppets.

Go Fuck Yourself Dave Franco.

2011-10-08T23:37:00.000-07:00

I love the Franco brothers!

Go F*ck Yourself with Dave Franco from Dave Franco

Zac Efron whips it out (NSFW)

2011-10-08T23:32:00.000-07:00

I am fairly immune to the supposed charms of one, Zac Efron. Too old to care about High School Musical and too young to be into him as jail bait, I've been aware of Efron as an "actor" for some time just in general tabloid pop culture terms and a hit or miss turn in the musical film version of Hairspray...

but......

I am more aware that like all squeaky clean Disney teens we love it when they self-destruct (Brittany shaving her head anyone?????) or get their phones hacked and people circulate their cock shots. I'm still meh, about him myself but feel free to enjoy naked Zack Efron after the jump

Björk-Biophilia

2011-10-08T19:19:00.000-07:00

   For Iceland's highest profile artist the universe and science serve as the musical jumping off point for her 7th album (not counting Telegram, Selma Songs and Drawing Restraint 9 soundtrack). The title Biophilia refers to the love of all living things and this scientific obsession fuels Björk's experimental approach on tracks like "Thunderbolt", which uses Tesla coils for beats. Much of the album was recorded with custom built instruments such as bespoke pipe organ that runs on an iPad and a pendulum that harnesses the earth’s gravitational pull to create bass lines that fall like gravity on "Moon". Viral love songs (Virus), atomic structures and geological crystals (Crystalline) for the context of the lyrics and if this all sounds a bit weird, well it is.

And it's Björk.

And it's one of the best records of the year, easily.

   Perhaps for some, it's easy to pass off Björk's musical innovations as quirky or difficult for the sake of pretension, her albums have steadily become more and more abstracted and less pop oriented (though her record sales have continued to climb) For the money there is no more fearless innovator working on the planet, especially one so firmly rooted in pop culture and pop music- Never simply revisiting their past glory on greatest hits tours, making embarrassing attempts to stay currant (ahem-Madonna) or segueing into easy listening (nor obscurity) .

   Björk is a performance artist of the highest caliber, make no mistake about that, she's as much uptown high art (if not more so) than downtown club kid. Biophilia is made to play live, with all it's particulars, aided with an award winning all-female Icelandic choir and a multimedia visual extravaganza.

   Always avant guard, the album is released with iPad apps for each song, creating an interactive experience for listeners. Delving into the science nature, the album apps are introduced by none other than Richard Attenborough.

   Biophilia, like it's intellectual kin Medulla is a record that needs a little time to take in, but rewards the listener again and again with deconstructed arpeggios, stunning clarity and unique instrumentation, again reminding us that Björk is not only a national treasure for Iceland but also the world.


   Check out her umpteeth collaboartion with the brilliant french film maker Michel Gondry.

BAD WOLF: " The Wedding of River Song" or GRIPES, GRIPES EVERYWHERE.

2011-10-04T15:42:00.000-07:00

Dear Whovians,

What’s the term for a simultaneous feeling of excitement and disappointment? I’m left with whatever it is after having stewed over what I'd write for my review of “The Wedding of River Song”. Moffat’s ability to leave the audience wanting more is not to be underestimated. So too is his ability to explore the motivation and real elements of a character, a talent I feel has been neglected for the major part of series six. Moffat has always been a writer renowned for his ability to balance multiple story elements at once, and while most times this is done as well as most would imagine it could be I feel like a major element of the current Doctor Who arc has been left unattended and overlooked. The focus of the second half of this series was the death of the Doctor. Who kills him? How and why? IAs interesting and engaging as those questions were, I felt like some other important elements were ignored. We had an excellent series halfway ender in “A Good Man Goes to War”. Plenty of fun elements introduced, including The Doctor’s effect on his travelling companions and the birth of Amy and Rory’s baby.

Upon the return of the series I expected to join the crew travelling through time and space and hunting down the captured child and the organization behind it. Instead we got a bunch of stand-alone adventure episodes in which the writing seemed incongruent and unreasonable. Instead of looking for Melody/River it seemed like they tried sweeping the storyline under the rug by saying, “Oh she’ll be okay because we know she’s River”, which is not only poor form writing wise, but it speaks very negatively of Amy and Rory’s characters and makes them look like bum parents, so much so that it nearly un-writes everything we grew to know and love from the characters introduced in series 5. As a mother is Amy Pond as strong a character as the writing would have us believe if we see her acting how we do? For god’s sake Amy had a child and lost it to a bunch of cult members who want to turn it into a killing machine. If Amy can rip time apart to get back to Rory where is that same will to reunite with her lost and very much in danger daughter?

The sleep of the emotionally un-attatched...

There isn’t even any attempt to explain it. We see the same Amy whine and complain about 30 years of waiting for Rory and the Doctor in “The Girl Who Waited” and while that episode was pretty amazing it still overlooked the fact that poor Rory waited two thousand years for her and the Doctor. It’s either very poor form or Moffat’s got something planned, but with the season ending on somewhat of a ‘resolution’ to the mystery of River and her origins I’m puzzled and concerned as to how they’ll bring these ideas up again and fix the huge hole left in the plot. Perhaps I’m still ragging on the story too soon and Moffat will wrap the loose ends up later, but what I expected and what I got were very different. Yes the Amy and The Doctor schtick is cute but you can’t try to make dynamic plot changes without changing the characters involved, it’s just careless.

Alternate title for the series six finale.

Now let’s talk about the things I enjoyed about the episode: The question, the Fall of the Eleventh. Exciting prophecies and story lines being set up for the next series, a very clever and satisfying hook for Moffat to tie in the longest running question in the Who universe to entice us to keep watching. Learning more about the Doctor’s origins will definitely keep me coming back every Saturday rabid with anticipation, however these hooks don’t mean much if Moffat does not address the obvious flaws. It’s tricky to predict what’ll happen but with the 50^th anniversary approaching there’s no way Moffat doesn’t have a few tricks up his sleeve. So here’s my wish list: First and foremost, a reasonable resolution to the Doctor’s conscience and to the River Song/Ponds story. To see Jack Harkness and/or Torchwood involved in the Moffat/Matt Smith story, and perhaps an appearance from a past Doctor or Doctors. Even though I’m not fully satisfied with this series’ end I have learned that with Moffat all good things come to those who wait, and wait I shall, like Amy Pond for her raggedy Doctor, and so shall you. Hopefully I’ll be back here writing reviews for the next series. In the mean time I might be popping in and out to give you the scoop this or that. Till then, have a great Fall and don't blink.


Happy Halloween.

-ZC

BAD WOLF: "Closing Time"

2011-09-26T08:54:00.000-07:00

Hello again Whovians,

The time is almost upon us and yet another episode of Doctor Who has made me break down and regenerate into the form of a crying ‘Stormageddon” and question all the theories I’ve formed about the finale. For ‘Closing Time’ we rejoin a somber Red Bowtie Doctor visiting Craig (from ‘The Lodger” in series five) on a ‘pop-in-pop-out’ visit that turns into a hilarious fan-service adventure full of dead Cybermen and amazing jokes concerning the nature of Craig and the Doctor’s relationship. Which despite all the fanfic on the internet, remains a solid and definitive friendship in canon. Just friendship. Sure.

You're not fooling anyone boys.

A huge logistical problem I noticed in this episode: The Doctor claims that tomorrow he’s going to face his death. Anyone who’s seen the episode knows where I’m going with this. We’re being slowly lead to the series six intro episode ‘The Impossible Astronaut” in which, a Doctor claiming to be 200 years older invites the Pond-Williams family to attend his death at Lake Silencio, Utah via a few TARDIS blue envelopes. This is verified easily by the envelopes of the same color the Doctor borrows from Craig before his departure to the series finale. This means the Series six intro was a preview of the future we were allowed to view long before it’s actual occurrence, and tells me that within this season and perhaps within Moffat’s run as head writer, that we’ve been viewing the series from a non-linear perspective. This ALSO means that between “The God Complex” and “Closing Time” there is a span of at least 200 years for this specific Doctor. This allows for a hole in my Ganger Doctor theory from last week. I’ve been theorizing under the assumption that the story was linear which is admittedly a very big mistake for someone who writes reviews of a show about time travel.

My bad...

If we've been constantly switching between immediate-post IA Doctor and near death future Doctor there is no necessity for either to be gangers, just the same old timey-wimey stuff that time travel necessitates. Meaning instead my idea that one Doctor was locked up or busy somewhere and that one was travelling around in the TARDIS, they both could exist and have different habits because one is an older version. I know it’s heavy and now I’ve begun to ramble. Either way I still feel confident that I got something right. That the Doctor has been visiting planets and destinations based on the knowledge he has of his own death and his desire to find a way to avoid it…

From the fanatic’s perspective of the acting this episode was great. Matt Smith has truly grown into his role as the Doctor and a loveable one at that. Even as he’s practically mourning his own death he’s laughing at toddler’s books and making silly off the cuff jokes and it all feels as genuine as saving your human friend from cyborgs below a mall really can. The mood this Saturday was melancholy and resembled that of the calm before the storm. So many things to wonder about. Why the eyepatches? How are the "The Silence" and those scary creatures they roll with still operating? What is the question that will make the Silence fall? I’m nervous, and I trust Moffat’s writing, but based on the few spoilers I have seen for “The Wedding of River Song” Things are about to take a turn for the wibbly-wobbly boys and girls. So hold on to your Stetsons and Fez’s and I’ll see you next week.

Goodbye Sweetie

-Zach C.

BAD WOLF: "The God Complex"

2011-09-17T18:52:00.000-07:00

POSSIBLE SPOILER WARNING

Hello world!

I realize It’s a bit late in the season to start reviewing episodes but let’s chalk that up to timey-wimey hang ups. My name is Zach and I’m a budding Whovian/Matt Smith enthusiast. From here on out I’ll be hopping in the TARDIS and dropping by here weekly to give you my take on the latest episode of Doctor Who and swoon my bow-tie off at the good Doctor.

Too busy reading Diggin' to China to notice the Minotaur behind them.

Today’s episode, “The God Complex” was perhaps the greatest and most telling episode of series six part two, in my humble opinion. It seems that the ever annoying and troll heavy Moffat-helmed arc is finally reaching some semblance of reason and explanation. The theme of subjective reality in series six is all at once silently present and obnoxious as every episode so far seems to touch on it. Clones, dream worlds, alternate time streams overlapping, digital realities. Not to mention the prevalent symbolism of mirrors, reflection and eyes. In “The God Complex” the Doctor and his companions become trapped in a very The Shining style space hotel where we are faced with yet another alternate reality and clues to a more silent plot point that has been bubbling under the surface since series six’s return. Or what I like to call my “Shamalan-Nolan Theory”.

You unbreakable bastard.

The possibility of a duplicate Doctor was introduced in “The Almost People” and almost immediately debunked as the episode closes with the building collapsing and the clone Doctor erupting into marshmallow-fluff. But who’s to say another wasn’t created? All the Doctor had to do was touch it once for it to copy him, it's probable that it could happen again. This episode’s Doctor dresses differently; he also eats apples, a food he expressed a great distaste for in his premiere episode, “The Eleventh Hour”. The shot of his shoes, which was used frequently in the clone episode to help the audience tell the Doctors apart, is also used quite a bit this week, which seemed ominous enough. In my opinion, Moffat is teasing us with what could potentially be huge hints at what I’ve been fearing all along. That the Doctor and possibly the companions we’re viewing since series six’s return are not genuine. (I.E. The Shamalan-Nolan Theory).

Just remember that I called it when the series finale rolls around.

As far as the acting goes almost the entire cast was on their A-game. The fabulous Matt Smith delivers a performance akin to his predecessor David Tennant and with a rivaling swagger and a similar charm. Due in part to the writing for this episode by Toby Whithouse (“The Vampires of Venice”) that allowed for a heartfelt delivery in which the Doctor is the most meta of superheroes by being the furthest thing from one. Rita, a guest character played by Amara Karen (also Rita in The Darjeeling Limited) played a spectacularly lovable character but fell victim to the same fate as many other of the Doctor’s one episode crushes. Arthur Darvill as always is brilliant as Rory Williams, but it was Karen Gillian who disappointed me the most. Perhaps I’m just getting bored of her, and based on the script of the episode so too, perhaps, is the Doctor. Two points each this week for our leading men and none for Gretchen Wieners, er- Karen Gillian.


Why should the Last Centurion get to stomp around while the rest of us try not to get smooshed by his big, stupid feet??

That's all for now fellow Whovians; see you next week!
-Zach C

Overzealous?

2011-07-22T21:18:00.000-07:00

When explaining polyamory to people who may not have heard of it before or to people who don't understand how it works, I'm afraid it is all too easy to fall into that trap that plagues members of all groups of humans. That trap involves the logic of "my brand of X is better than your brand of X." Substitute anything for X--clothing, cars, politics, religions, even types of relationships. I think it is human nature to think that whatever group you may be in is exceptional over other groups. So, in explaining what polyamory is and how it works, it is very easy for me to come across as a person who thinks her brand of relationship is better than yours.

This phenomenon is alive and well in poly groups, too. I see it all the time. Poly people scoffing at jealous people, putting down the idea of monogamy as being impractical, and for all intents and purposes acting superior. I've seen monogamists do the same about polyamorists and open relationships, too.

If I ever get like that, please smack me upside my head. It is not my intent to say monogamy is bad or that monogamy is not a viable relationship style or that monogamy stinks. Those things may be for me, but I respect other people's rights to live their lives in whatever manner suits them.

However, when I go on and on about polyamory in a good way and how monogamy can be so unfulfilling in comparison and talk about all the problems with it, it makes it seem like I am decidedly anti-monogamous and extremely biased.

Honestly, my goal is not to convert all the masses to polyamory. Monogamy works for many people. If people like being monogamous and they want to remain so, I say go to. Have fun! Don't let me discourage you. I respect your right to choose whatever relationship style works for you.

But I get excited about telling people about polyamory, simple because so many people haven't heard of it. I hadn't heard of it six plus years ago. I know that there are people out there for whom monogamy doesn't work. They are unhappy with their lives because they don't know of any other way. I feel like trying to tell them that there are other ways is being helpful. I've talked to some people who said that once they realized poly existed, it was like a light bulb went off in their heads! I want to help poly-oriented people find that light bulb. And I want to educate monogamous people who find the idea of polyamory horrific, that there really isn't anything horrible about it at all.

So yeah, I'll likely write more about polyamory. I'll try really really hard, I promise, not to bash monogamy. Because I don't think it's bad. For myself, I just like poly better.

I Love You, Keith Olbermann

2011-06-24T15:58:00.000-07:00

It speaks for itself, really.

Leave Chris Crocker Alone (And He'll Whip It Out)- NSFW

2011-06-23T10:31:00.000-07:00

    Remember crazy-ass Chris Crocker's strange/terrifying addictive performance art/nervous breakdown about Britney Spears during her head shaving freak-out? LEAVE BRITNEY ALONE!!!!! Well, he does not want to leave us alone.
    He's been taken in under the wing of Chi Chi Larue and prepped for his porno debut. He's cut the bleach blonde hair off and toned up his body. Got a bit of scruff on his face and has a surprisingly nice piece to work with. However, the voice is EXACTLY the same, so personally, that's a buzz kill.

Well, lets have a quick reminder of who he was and who he has become after the jump (reminder NSFW).

And now:

Cult Cut :Dark Age (1987)

2011-05-29T19:35:00.000-07:00

When I was younger, I'd go the the video rental store and snatch up armloads of VHS. Cartoons, foreign art house, horror films, B-movies--I didn't care. I had a voracious appetite. I grew up in a rural hamlet of around 600 people and was bussed to school--the only one in the county--about 30 miles away. So needless to say, I was looking for escapist entertainment. One of my favorite genres is the creature feature/large, rampaging animal films. Ray Harryhousen stop-motion mythical beasts, King Kong, Speilberg's summer blockbuster Jaws, Roger Corman and Joe Dante's camp classic Piranha- I love those films. But my secret favorite amongst them all is a little known Australian Grindhouse flick from 1987 called Dark Age.

Well, due to some snafu with their distributor going under, this intrinsically Australian film was never released in Aussie theaters and sorta fell through the gaps of the Ozploitation boom of the 1980s. Based on the Novel Numunwari by Grahame Webb, it's a great twist on the rampaging reptile genre. The Aborigines worship the man-eating croc as the "Numunwari"-a god that contains the spirits of their ancestors. John Jarret (Picnic at Hanging Rock, Wolf Creek) plays our park ranger lead and the always amazing David Gulpilil (Walkabout, The Last Wave, Rabbit Proof Fence) plays our native wise-man/side-kick; you know, the role David Gulpilil often plays in Australian cinema. The best news ever for this long out of print lost classic is TAH-DAH some wondrous person posted the whole film on YOUTUBE!

ENJOY BELOW!!! What are your thoughts? Other than what the hell were his parents thinking letting him watch this film in 1988?

Spark (2011) Teaser Trailer (#2)

2011-05-10T08:44:00.000-07:00

A second teaser Trailer from the upcoming film Spark, which I wrote and directed. It's been two years of planning and nine months of shooting to make Spark a reality. Check out the new teaser after the jump.

Spark tells the unconventional story of an artist and writer whose downward spiral of sex addiction and depression lands him in rehab after a failed suicide attempt. There he recounts his misadventures to his therapist as he tries to make sense of his mental breakdown and find a way to reconnect with the person he loves.

Shot on location in Portland, Oregon USA, Paris France and Reykjavik Iceland the sexually explicit dark drama is set to hit festivals later this year.

Diversidade Em Animação

2011-05-05T11:31:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is another day--and with it brings the third annual Diversidade Em Animação (Diversity in Animation) festival in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (May 6-13, 2011). It's an exciting batch of 23 animated films, award possibilities, tropical sun and a retrospective on J.J. Sedelmaier's The Ambiguously Gay Duo- 11 episodes of subversive genius that SNL hosted here in the states...I've missed Ace and Gary! It's great that there is a festival dedicated to diversity in animation, hell, in animation at all. It's a hard, lonely existence animating without the comfort and funding of a studio. Add to that the drive to turn one's lens on the under- represented and it's a pretty damn wonderfully obscure thing. I find myself making my South American film debut in competition at Diversidade Em Animação with my film 2010 film Motel.

I am extremely honored to be in such amazing company at the festival and my only regret is that I'm in grey Portland and not on hand to enjoy Rio this week (I'm instead attempting to balance directing my feature film debut SPARK, recording the amazing new Mattachine Social record and, um, oh yeah, graduate from University eventually-damn you, midterms). Check out the trailer for the festival below (a shot of Motel pops up with the letter T! Possibly the only acceptable shot they could glean).

I wanted to quickly thank the following people who helped me shape Motel into a film that was sought out by the programmers of Diversidade Em Animação: My husband and greatest collaborator Taylor Vineyard, Holly Andres, Grace Carter, Justin Warner, Matthew Kern, Jon Miller and Paul Davidson. In some way these people all had a hand in the creation of Motel, supporting me, telling me when it was not good enough (and it wasn't), and hauling heavy ass equipment to galleries to set up the instillation version of the film with me in the summer heat. Thank you all. Fingers crossed. Perhaps awards are in our future.

Delusions Of Righteousness

2011-05-04T15:03:00.000-07:00

I started writing something about this whole Bin Laden thing several times, but it was hard to come up with something publishable. It was either too long and contemplative, or too hokey and cavalier and everywhere along that spectrum.

But having now read, and digested, the worldwide reaction to this news there is one common thread I picked up on. That's the thread of assholeness.

Despite overwhelming praise, there remain so many people who have some kind of problem with this. Now, I don't have much beef with the good struggling people in, say, Turkmenistan, who don't feel particularly celebratory right now. I have a problem with spoiled Western brats who take time out of their privileged lives to criticize the recent operation in any way.

I feel like I am - mostly - a bona fide liberal whose political views would seem heresy to many "red-blooded" Americans. But I'll proudly adopt the banner of said red-blooded-ness to support and celebrate the death of Osama Bin Laden.

People who make political criticisms out of something like this show their colors; people separated from harsh reality, sitting in slobbish undeserved comfort, willing to dispense casual criticism to the most elite fellow citizens who go through things most people can't imagine.

If you have ever found yourself in a position of having to choose between running into roaring flames to die versus jumping 80 floors to your quicker death, AND you survive, then I'd say your criticisms hold more water. Until then, fuck anybody who's got a problem with the Seals or their recent operation.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JOHN CAMERON MITCHELL

2011-04-21T11:19:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday actor-director-writer extraordinaire John Cameron Mitchell.

In three feature films (Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Shortbus, Rabbit Hole) you have shocked and delighted the staid American indie scene! Here's to many more!

Spark (2011) Teaser Trailer

2011-04-16T02:00:00.000-07:00

Enjoy the teaser trailer for Spark, the controversial feature film directed by Diggin' To China founder Andrew Klaus (that's me!). The dark drama is set to hit the festival circuit later this year.

Spark tells the unconventional story of an artist and writer whose downward spiral of sex addiction and depression lands him in rehab after a failed suicide attempt. There he recounts his misadventures to his therapist as he tries to make sense of his mental breakdown and find a way to reconnect with the person he loves.

Spark (2011) Teaser from Andrew Klaus on Vimeo.

Spark Catches Fire- New Cast Members Join Dark, Experimental Drama.

2011-04-03T03:09:00.000-07:00

Model and Actor Connor Kent joins the cast of Spark

Connor Kent will play the role of Marc, one half of a couple of enabling "friends with benefits" in the controversial feature film Spark.

Spark tells the unconventional story of an artist and writer who's downward spiral of sex addiction and depression lands him in rehab after a failed suicide attempt. There he recounts his misadventures to his therapist as he tries to make sense of his mental breakdown and find a way to reconnect with the person he loves.

The sexually explicit dark drama has been shooting on location around the globe in Portland, Oregon; Reykjavik, Iceland; and Paris, France and features new music from Former Ghosts, Monolith, Lovers of the Arctic Circle, Swallows, Mattachine Social, A is for Accident and more....

Another shot of beefcake actor Connor Kent after the jump.

Connor Kent

I Irritate The Shit Out Of Myself.

2011-03-30T03:25:00.001-07:00

Upon being offered the role of "political contributor" for this blog, I was ecstatic. HERE was a chance to showcase my bulletproof political opinions, to spill my thoughts to an avidly willing audience who were otherwise unwilling to give a shit about my opinions! In showcasing said opinions and spilling said thoughts, I've come dangerously close to becoming a political PUNDIT. And I absolutely hate it.

( What do I mean by pundit?"" Pundits are a broad class of people focused on a narrow goal: political commentary & gossip. A "pundit" can mean a New York Times columnist, any media commentator (especially television), and otherwise anyone with a political opinion whose voice is heard. Paul Krugman, George Will, Thomas Friedman, and even Glen Beck are all examples of a pundit).

Why does my making political commentary bother me? The same reason it bothers me when other people do it: arrogance. Everybody (including myself) is biased in countless ways. The ease with which a human brain can be fooled into accepting ridiculous beliefs (and even believing false memories) has been widely documented. That's why I say that most political "pundits" - professional or otherwise - are full of shit.

Go to www.realclearpolitics.com , where you'll find a diverse collection of articles written by accomplished pundits. You may notice how sure these professional pundits are of their opinions. These columnists treat their individual outlook on the world as universal common sense; they push rigid narratives of how the world's going to turn out without consideration of other possibilities. You may also notice how two pundits can both be highly intelligent & passionate, yet still disagree completely.

Hence the arrogance of the pundit class. In light of all the informed opinions out there about political issues, any one person who thinks they have a handle on an issue above others is fantastically arrogant.

There is a philosophy which tries to eliminate emotional bias from human inquiry and that's science. Modern scientific experiments are designed to eliminate human bias so that we can understand the world as is truly is, not how we feel it is. An objective scientist must begin with the idea that no matter how sure we are that we know something, there still exists the possibility of being incorrect. For example, suppose someone sees a very real-looking hot pink teddy bear dancing in mid-air. If everyone else around them sees nothing, then no matter how real the dancing teddy bear looks to one person, then odds are it's you who's hallucinating, not everybody else.

Politicians choose to play the childish game of Blame. Political journalists choose to inject baseless biased opinions into democratic discourse. Most everybody else tunes into the political soap operas that the former two write, and nothing real gets said...

I may not always be right, but at least I admit it.

Freddy Ruppert Talks Gender Neutral Love Songs, Sade And Former Ghosts

2011-03-21T13:24:00.000-07:00

Dark , sexy, and sad. Former Ghosts is a collaboration of sorts between front-man/songwriter Freddy Ruppert (formerly of This Song Is A Mess But So Am I), Nika Roza (Zola Jesus), Yasmine Kittles (of TEARIST) and Jamie Stuart (of Xiu Xiu). The "brutally gloomy" band that Pitchfork described:

"Sounds like what might've happened to Joy Division if Ian Curtis had bought a Casio and a four-track and fired the rest of the band."

And they do. And it's bloody brilliant. Their debut Fleurs was a fine mix of synth pop, IDM, and This Mortal Coil. It sounded like a lost relic from post-punk's early days and became an instant favorite here at Diggin' to China. I caught up with Freddy Ruppert in Prague, on tour supporting Former Ghost's latest album New Love which is darker and yet catchier than Fleurs. It's a record we can't recommend enough. Read our exclusive interview with Freddy after the jump.

Freddy Ruppert: Hey!

Diggin' to China: Howdy, Mister! Soooo ...Former Ghosts started as a solo project that evolved into a full band. Has that changed your approach to the songs at all?

FR: I think as far as song writing and actual composing of the songs that hasn't changed much. The biggest change would be when creating a song, I can get a sense or feel of what would be good for someone's voice, or a feeling that Nika's voice would be amazing for this, or Yasmine's voice for this. It maybe will change the way I approach a song in the middle of writing due to the different colors of their voices, but the actual song writing remains somewhat similar to when I was doing everything alone.

DtC: You have a penchant for very confessional raw lyrics, much like those of your band mate Jamie Stewart, do you ever feel the temptation to temper the abrasive with something more commercial?

FR: I think our (Jamie and I's) approaches to personal lyrics are somewhat different. But I think lately I have felt interested in not what I would consider more "commercial" but interested in an idea of restraint. If there can be power in things that are not said and power in restraint. I think this will probably come through and be experimented with a lot more on the next records. I think also someone like Sade who sings confessional type love songs but who does it in such a restrained manner is really beautiful and has been influencing me lately.

DtC: You really are just a soul singer, huh?

FR: Haha! I wouldn't really say that. Maybe in spirit, but in vocal tone I fucking wish.

DtC: You are based in LA which is the American ideal of blond, shiny, and new to many, and yet you create this dark and sexy art. You're on your European tour now. How does the audience differ from those in the states?

FR: I think the place I live doesn't affect the way I create music so much as more life experiences affect what I make. Hence, maybe the contradiction in being from sunny southern California. Playing to a European audience is really great and it differs from the States because sometimes I feel like in Europe people really come to the shows because they want to be at the show and see the band and hear the music. A lot of times in the U.S. I think it happens that people go to shows because "it is the place to be" for the night, which becomes evident in how much talking there is at shows in the U.S. In Europe, you find yourself often playing to a very quiet room analyzing your every move. Also, I think in the U.S. there is a different expectation as to what Former Ghosts is supposed to be, in the sense that people coming to shows expecting for every person that has ever contributed to one of the records performing at the show. Whereas in Europe, it seems that they are more accepting of whatever live format Former Ghosts is able to present itself as at that point.

DtC: You have much more press coming out of the UK and in gay press circles; it seems Europe is the launching ground for American bands these days rather than everyone scrambling to come stateside.

Technology has made it so much easier for kids to record records at home and the internet to promote them. Has this changed the way your band functions at all?

FR: I think being mainly an electronic musician I've been recording my things at home ever since I started. Since the This Song Is A Mess But So Am I days. I think that the technology to make music at home is a great thing and I think the type of sound one can get from home recording has a vast range. I think this increase in music technology and the Internet has really allowed me to do what I've done so far.

DtC: It certainly has the power to allow like minded artists to connect instantaneously-this interview for example. The new record somehow managed to be catchy and poppy and yet darker than Fleurs. Any thoughts about it now that its done and out and you cant edit it more?

FR: I think more than allowing like minded artists to connect it has allowed people to just connect in general. Sometimes in a great way sometimes in a bad way. But I think the most important thing is the possibility to tear down the walls between the "artist" and the person viewing the art. These are bullshit walls anyway. I don't need to distance myself from what I do and who I am presenting it to. I think this is important.

DtC: Absolutely agree.

FR: I still think New Love is darker when compared to Fleurs. I think it is poppier in its song structures. The songs follow more pop song conventions, but the themes I think are overall a lot more bleak. Now that I have had some distance from the creation of the songs on New Love and releasing it, I feel somewhat differently about it. There are a couple of songs I probably would remove from it because I don't feel they are necessarily good songs, but I left them on the record at the time because I felt their theme was so directly connected to theme of the record so I put them on the record anyways.

DtC: As a side note "Taurean Nature" has been stuck in my head for two weeks.

FR: [laughs] Thank you.

DtC: You have a pretty solid gay/queer following. Why do you think that is?

FR: I’m not exactly sure. Maybe because my music instead of focusing on a gender that is receiving love, in its expression it tends to focus on love itself regardless of what the gender of that person receiving it is. I think this is the most important. An expression of love and the extremes of love itself, not a focus on the sexual orientation of that love.

DtC: Gender neutral love songs.

FR: In a way. It is the same reason why I find Morrissey to be the greatest and the most important.

DtC: Yes, and he always has a good haircut.

FR: [laughing] This is also quite important!

DtC: The visual side of the band , specifically videos for "Hold On" and "Taurean Nature," have been beautifully shot and torturous affairs. I'm rather impressed/horrified at the drinking in "Hold On," assuming it was all real. How closely involved are you with that process?

FR: With "Hold On" and "Taurean Nature" I was directly involved. The person that filmed and directed them is my best friend Amir Shoucri, so I was directly involved with what happened in those videos. The other two videos, "New Orleans, New Orleans David Horvitz," and "Flowers" I wasn't directly involved in the concepts or what actually took place/happened in those videos. The drinking session in "Hold On" is all real. As is the vomit.

DtC: Oh, yes. As a filmmaker and occasional drinker, I know real vomit.

DtC: You work with a lot of really talented collaborators--anyone you haven't worked with that you'd love to?

FR: I would die to work with Sade. I would love to do a song with Matt Berninger of the National because I really love his vocal tone. I would really love to do a song with Marianne Faithful for the same reasons.

DtC: Who inspires you these days; who are you listening to?

FR: I'm not sure if what I listen to directly inspires the sound of what I do or not but currently [I'm] obsessed with Patsy Cline, David Sylvian, Derek Bailey, Sade, and a revisit to Nine Inch Nails Downward Spiral.

DtC: Somehow those all make sense. So, what's next for Former Ghosts?

FR: At this point, I think I will be taking a break from touring and playing live altogether, going home to Los Angeles, and working on whatever the next record will be hopefully for release in the first half of 2012.

DtC: Excellent!

FR: Thanks so much.

Former Ghosts: New Love is out now. GO BUY IT!