Slusho and beyond

Slusho

So good you can't drink just six ...

First off, let’s get right to this Slusho 1-18-08 thing … I don’t think it’s Godzilla. In fact the theory I like best is the one most discredited at the moment … that it was all a massive promo for “Lost.” That would be just the best idea ever. But, no, it seems unlikely at this stage.

Anyway, the apple trailer is up and it’s definitely a great trailer. HERE

Just some quick notes here –

1. No, I haven’t read the newest Harry Potter book

2. No, I haven’t seen the newest Harry Potter movie.

3. I haven’t seen Pirates or Spiderman 3

4. The only new music I’ve gotten is by old guys – Robert Fripp’s “Churchscapes” finally arrived. It is exactly what I expected, mainly because he's been releasing this material through his website during the tour.


I also got the most recent Church acoustic album of their older songs “El Momento Siguiente.” This pretty good and features a rather interesting "reading" of "Reptile." Despite Kilbey's amazing ability to shoot himself in the foot, I still like the Church.




So, what’s going on?

I'm currently in total Firesign Theatre mode and reading a rather ok biography about them. This started because of my annual listen to the greatest comedy album "Don't Crush that Dwarf, Pass Me the Pliers" ... still marveling at how much is crammed into that mere 40 minutes.

Well, I’m totally into Stephan Moffatt’s “Jeckyll” series and will definitely be buying the DVD. Part 6 is on this Saturday on the BBC. There are so many bad versions of “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” (modern retellings or classic adaptations) that it is truly wonderful to see it being taken seriously.




Double-Dipped



Well, despite my best intentions, I’ve been dipped. A couple of times recently. I allowed myself to be double dipped on the Clint Eastwood and Sergio Leone classics “A Fistful of Dollars”, “For a Few Dollars More” and “The Good the Bad and the Ugly.” “Fistful” is still a classic introduction to Clint Eastwood (and him to us in many ways) and is rather interesting remake of Akira Kurosawa’s Yojimbo (1961).



Sadly, though the films themselves are presented in excellent anamorphic glory, the extras aren’t distributed very well. Sadly once again suffering is the best of the three – the glorious “For a Few Dollars More.” It is the only film that has a moral backbone or a firm narrative. All are great, but this is pure genius. Lee Van Cleef has never been better used and Clint really seems have stepped into his own career before it had really happened.




“The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly” is massive gorge of violence, gigantic set-pieces, and odd characters. It is just too big and long for me (it takes 30 minutes just to introduce the main characters), though it is still a really entertaining film. Eli Wallach is so good as Tuco (the Ugly) that you sort of forget that he isn’t the star of the film.




Also, I got the box for Bob Dylan’s “Don’t Look Back (1965 Tour Deluxe Edition).” While it is a great film, the re-release seems really for the bottom of the barrel crowd. The film has been re-mastered and looks as good as this grainy b/w choppy documentary can (i.e., very impressive both technically and for Pennebaker’s ability to get the shot) but it really isn’t a vast improvement over the previous release. The silly book of the film and the flip book of the infamous “Subterranean Homesick Blues” film are really pointless. So, we are left with the bonus disc of outtakes and these are interesting as they point to even more depth in the “character” we call Bob. There is a wonderful moment when he lets the two girls from Liverpool (the ones he appears to be making fun of during the regular feature) into the show for free. He clearly remembers talking to them earlier, as well. Rather a different side of the enigma we see bouncing from pure iconoclast to jealous paranoid in the feature. All in all, Bob Dylan was an iconoclast and that’s what the film really brings out. If you can find it for a good price, I recommend the upgrade.