Movies: Killer Joe

 

(Drivebycuriosity) - There are plenty types of humor. It can be elegant, subtle, plumb, sarcastic, ironic, hidden, rough and much more. There is a rich tradition of movies with a brutal humor. Take for instance "Fargo" and "11:14".

"Killer Joe", directed by William Friedkin ("The Exorcist") is the newest variation (imdb). He developed this genre further and delivered a film which is sometimes really crude and gross. But it´s funny and hilarious too and got many loughs at the tiny New York cinema where I watched the flick.

Friedkin, who transformed a book by Tracy Letts (wikipedia), tells the story of some Texan rednecks. They want to solve their financial problems by hiring a killer who should murder an unloved family member to cash her insurance. As in many movies, stupidity and bad luck lead into a bloody mess.

Cinematographer Caleb Deschanel shot "Killer Joe" in a rough manner which fits to the style of the flick. He avoided the now usual artfully lighted displays. The pictures on the screen looked like shot spontaneously and reminded me a bit of Friedkin´s other masterpiece "French Connection, where the camera tracked the actors through Manhattan´s busy streets.

I guess the fine ensemble had much fun during shooting the movie. It´s fascinating watching the fabulous Juno Temple (imdb). She plays a kind of Lolita with a blend of innocence and the charm of a carnivorous plant. Gina Gershon entertains as a slutty white trash wife who doesn't´mind to present her bush to her stepson. Thomas Haden Church, acting as daddy who thinks with the speed of a room plant, is quite hilarious. My favorite is Matthew McConaughey as Killer Joe.  His slow and controlled manner of speaking and pronouncing stresses his vicious presence.

"Killer Joe" is a little gemstone of a "black comedy" and fun for those who enjoy this genre.

Media: The Incarnations Of Sherlock Holmes

 

(Drivebycuriosity) - Finally, Sherlock Holmes is getting straight. His companion, Dr. Watson, is a woman now - at least in a forthcoming TV series. The U.S. channel CBS announced the premiere of "Elementary", featuring Sherlock Holmes, for Thursday, September 27 (cbs.com). You can see a lot of ads for the show in the streets of Manhattan.

The fictional character Sherlock Holmes, invented by the British author Sir Conan Doyle around 1880, has had many incarnations in books, movies, radio plays, board & video games, comic strips, stage plays and TV series (wikipedia). I have been fascinated by the idea of Sherlock Holmes for decades. The detective stands for rational thinking and the human intellect. Holmes doesn´t depend on fists & guns, he prefers to work with his brain. Holmes solves the criminal puzzles by precisely analyzing the evidence and draws his conclusions by logical reasoning. I guess we all could learn a lot from him and use this smart behavior in most situations of our life.

I like the recent British series "Sherlock" which transported Holmes & Watson into the present. The show is smart, cool and hilarious and has a brilliant cinematography. The forthcoming CBS series also plays in the present and transforms the characters to New York, which gives the story a new angle. 

I appreciate very much that the makers of "Elementary" choose Lucy Liu for the role of Dr. Watson (imdb). I have been admiring this fine actress a long time because she´s very cool, smart and sexy. 

The choice of a woman who is the daughter of Chinese immigrants seems to me as a reference to the rising importance of China. Holmes is not just getting straight, he is getting multicultural too, in German we use for that the term "multikulti".

New York City: Fall Fashion Week 2012 - The Different Flavors Of God Herself

 

(Drivebycuriosity) - The streets of New York City are full of beautiful women. These days you can see even more beauties than usual - it must be Fashion Week again.

Right. Today started the Fall Fashion Week sponsored by Mercedes Benz which shows the spring collection for 2013 (through September 13  mbfashionweek). I used this event and was hanging around the Lincoln Center - a huge place before the Metropolitan Opera - where the sponsor has his tent which is the center of the glamorous event.

It seems that the Fashion Week is one of the occasions where stalking is not just allowed, it may be even welcome. Models are used to be spotted and the billion dollar fashion business needs the eye of the public. A lot of photographers were there, maybe bloggers like me. Some of them looked as interesting as the models themselves.

Many of the models were quite gorgeous. It seems that some goddesses emerged at the Lincoln Center to please us with their appearance. These beauties appeared in a variety of incarnations.
You could spot   

Vanilla

Chocolate

Mango

Besides the establishment also interesting  newcomers - fledging models - appeared.

As in the world of birds the males were sometimes more flamboyant than the females.

I am looking forward to the next days and intend to go back to this place. 

Culture: The Benefits Of Speaking Chinglish - And Spanglish Too

The other day - during a bus drive across South Manhattan - I witnessed the conversation of 2 girls of Asian origin who were sitting right behind me. I wasn`t interested and it wasn´t my business, but they spoke very loudly so I couldn´t miss their conversation. But anyway, I didn´t understand much. The girls spoke an mixture of English and Chinese - and this very fast. It seemed to me that the conversation belonged to a language (kind of) which New Yorker´s call Chinglish (wikipedia).

This situation created in my mind the picture of 2 card sets. One set has English words, the other words in Chinese. Someone mixes both sets so that the card game displays a random selection of Chinese & English words.

I don`t suppose that these girls chose their words randomly. They seemed to communicate fluently and to understand each other very well. Their talking seemed to follow a protocol. I guess the ostensible randomness of their choice of English & Chinese words is a method to protect them not just from the curiosity of other bus travelers. I reckon that they use a special language to protect them also from the curiosity of their parents and other older family members.

Usually language is used to communicate, meaning to transport information. But very often language also serves as a method to distinguish from others (ask your doctor or your lawyer). Priests of the Catholic Church used to speak Latin to demonstrate their superiority to the peasants, who spoke English, German or other local languages.

I guess this kind of Chinglish I witnessed - and other  language blends like Spanglish (Spanish & English)  - has been developed by the sons and daughters of immigrants, the so called 1. generation of immigrants. These kids need a language for their own which is not understood by people who aren`t part of their community. Chinglish is therefore part of life in New York City where many cultures live side by side.

Movies: Little Birds

(Drivebycuriosity) - Friends can be very valuable and helpful. But friends also can be a drag or worse. There are two sides of the coin. Maybe this is the message from the movie "Little Birds", written and directed by the newcomer Elgin James (imdb).

The flick narrates some days in the life of two 15 years old girls who call each other best friends. Both are bored and frustrated about their life in a rundown Californian town. Together they run away from their pathetic homes and join a gang of juvenile skaters who occupy a derelict place in Los Angeles`no go zone. 

One of the girls falls in love with a gang member, who isn´t really a bad guy, but he follows the alpha dogs of the group without question, even as they get more and more violent and criminal. The situation escalates, causing murder and more, also to challenge the close friendship between the girls. 

Maybe the story of runaway kids getting deep into trouble has been told more than 1.000 times. But the talented director, who also wrote the script, found a new and interesting way. I got sucked into the plot partly thanks to the appealing cinematography. James and his cinematographer Reed Morano captured both, the sun flooded bleakness of a Californian dessert settlement and the dark sides of L.A.
The soundtrack, a fine selection of independent rock tunes with grungy parts - partly written by James himself -, enhanced the pull of the movie.

The film focuses on Juno Temple, who was around 20 years old during the shoot. The rising British star impresses as a convincing incarnation of the unsure 15-year old uncut diamond. Watching Kay Panabacker, who acts as her same aged best friend, also was a delight.

After the show at New York`s Angelika Film Center the director himself was available for a Q&A. James explained that his movie is autobiographical, he had just changed his personal experience into the characters of two fledgling girls, partly because he is impressed by strong women. Furthermore the filmmaker told that he had been member of a Boston street gang and had spent one year in prison for his past after finishing "Little Birds" (the website of the Sundance Institute has an autobiographical article sundance ). The "New Yorker" also has a long piece about James`unlucky childhood, his career as a leader of a huge gang and his promising start into the movie business (the article is here newyorker  but behind a pay wall).

It seems that James benefited a lot from his friends. Before starting the flick he didn`t know anything about the film business, he claimed. He got a lot of help from Robert Redford who had started his Sundance Institute in the 80s to assist newcomers in the movie business (sundance.org). "Little Birds" came into existence as part of the Sundance Workshop (Screenwriters and Directors Lab), which is a incubator for films and movie makers.

Elgin James is now working on further film projects using his vast experience as a leader of a huge gang (more than 100 members). I suppose that his insights into the world of violence and his talents in personnel management are helpful for directing exciting flicks. I wish James much luck and I will be excited to see more from him some day.

Culture: Karen Curious Band At The Bitter End, New York

 

 (Drivebycuriosity) - New York City is home to a lot of rock bands. One of the finest is the "Karen Curious Band". I watched them at "The Bitter End", at Bleecker Street New York.

"The Bitter End" is a traditional rock venue in Manhattan`s touristy Greenwich Village (facebook). The cover fee of just $10 per head is acceptable and seems to lure many of the tourists inside who are strolling Bleecker Street. But the place has some disadvantages. You can not stand before the stage because they placed tables before it! Contrary to most New York pubs this venue serves just Belgian beer on the tap - ridiculous. But very often you get comforted by good rock music.

The "Karen Curious Band" was the reason I went there last Friday. Last summer I had enjoyed their gig at the "East River Concert" at New York´s Lower East Side (drivebycuriosity). Certainly I like that the they share the name of this blog. Therefore I had to see them again. You can get their schedule if you like them on Facebook (facebook).

Singer/songwriter Karen and her band (3 guitars plus percussion)  delivered solid and earthy rock with grungy elements. I like Karen´s somewhat raspy voice which fits well to the powerful performance. Amplified by a sometimes massively and blurred guitar sound the local rock star creates a lot of thrill and tension. One of my favorite songs is "Nothin Pretty" (SIC) which you can find here (facebook).

Rock on, Karen Curious Band!

Economy: The Consumer Mantra

Europe in a crisis? China is cooling? Fiscal cliff? The U.S. consumers don`t give a f…k. They are ignoring the doom & gloom sentiment in the media and keep spending. I have been writing this for around a year like a mantra. Today we got more evidence for the resilience of the U.S. consumers.

Retailers are crushing it with a late month surge in back-to-school spending boosting monthly sales numbers, writes Seeking Alpha (seekingalpha.com). Excluding drugstores, same-store sales (excluding shop openings and closings) in August rose 5.9%, beating estimates for a 4.2% increase, reports Bloomberg (bloomberg). The bigger the retailer, the better the numbers with Target, Gap, Costco, and Limited Brands leading the charge (seekingalpha). Same-store sales at Gap, the biggest U.S. specialty-apparel retailer, climbed 9%, beating the average analyst projection for a 5.5%. Macy’s, the department-store chain, posted a 5.1% increase in same-store sales, topping the 3.3% (bloomberg).

This morning we also got news that Americans stepped up spending in July for the first time in three months (). Purchases increased 0.4% after being little changed in June.

The U.S. consumers benefit from 3 factors: Rising incomes (in July U.S. incomes climbed 0.3% for a third month in spite of the sluggish job market), climbing stock prices (the S&P 500 gained around 15% since August 2011) and the recovering housing market.

I reckon that the solid consumer spending (around 2 thirds of the economy) will preserve the economic upswing in the U.S. Rising U.S. consumer spending means climbing exports for Volkswagen, Adidas, Samsung et. al. and should therefore contribute to stabilize the ailing European economies and rekindle the Asian economies.