Link Day

Almost everyone (including hipsters) derides Thought Catalog for being a den of hipster iniquity, but they do some really great stuff over there.  So I don't care, I'll like it all the same.  Check out this piece by Stephanie Georgopulos called "Who You Used To Be."  And in lighter fare (maybe), Brad Pike's "Dumb Day."  I think every day for the past month has been one for me.

In much more serious news, a crowd of prospective students trying to get into University of Johannesburg in South Africa trampled a student's mother to death and injured others.  There were several thousand students and parents waiting outside the school to register for a few hundred final spots, and the crush at the gates had tragic results. The NYT coverage is here.  This story just broke my heart and is so indicative of the difficult place in which South Africa is currently situated--politically, socially, and economically.

California is set to close seventy state parks in July of this year.  What a huge shame.  As always, environmental issues get short shrift in budget negotiations: environmentalists' hands are tied and must vote Democrat, and Republicans, generally, just don't give a shit.  Furthermore, 20% of state rangers and all seasonal lifeguards will be laid off.  It's clear that the California governmental system is broken.  Outside Magazine has more information, including the video below.  It's a trailer/short film for The First 70 by Heath Hen Films, which recently reached surpassed its goal on Kickstarter (awesome idea, BTW) of raising $35K to complete a film about the seventy parks and the effect of the closures on communities.  The three-minute version below is awesome.




In breaking and important news, Beyoncé and Jay-Z's new baby, Blue Ivy Carter has, among other things, a $600,000 gold rocking horse.  I know that gossip blogs are not bastions of journalistic integrity (though who is, anymore?) but D-Listed has the story (warning: D-Listed is not 100% safe for work or sensitive eyes.  Never stopped me though).  I am disgusted with everyone.  Additionally, you can kill me with fire for (1) knowing the name of Jay-Z and Beyoncé's baby, (2) caring about any of this, and (3) forcing you, dear reader, to look at it.

Finally, via Belle, Japan-born and SF-based Toshio Hirano, who has a serious jones for some old-school folk-country-bluegrass Americana.  I feel you, sir.  And I'll look out for you next time at HSB.  Below, he sings Hank Williams' "Hey Good Lookin'."  Want more?  Check out his incredible version of Jimmie Rodgers' "Peach-Pickin' Time in Georgia."

Well, Hello There, Cape Town

The trailer for Safe House, the Denzel Washington and Ryan Reynolds CIA thriller, is out.  It was filmed on-location in Cape Town while I was living there, and a few friends (not me) spotted the two stars around town, on and off set.  All I experienced were massive traffic jams during day and night shoots around the city.  However, I'm pretty excited to see how the Mother City is portrayed on film, even if it looks like CT and its denizens play a back-seat role to the action.  Oh well.  Baby steps.  I'm sure it brought much-needed revenue to the city, maybe employed a few people as extras and on the crew, and doesn't appear to portray South Africa in a negative light...just the CIA.  Also, maybe I'm biased, but this looks like a better vehicle for Reynolds that some of his recent action outings, and I'm hoping this is a return of the not-quite-good-not-quite-bad Denzel character, as opposed to the hero-of-various-train-situations one (Training Day--OK, he was all bad in that one, but so good--vs. Pelham 123 or Unstoppable).  Add Sam Shepard, Vera Farmiga, and Brendan Gleeson to the mix, and I'm feeling pretty good.






H/T Kai.  Thanks, friend!

Because You're On Television, Dummy

I've been struggling with how to write about the Occupy protests--this was originally meant to be a post about them, but it got out of hand.  So I'll save that for a later date--maybe tomorrow, maybe next week.  I just finished watching one of my favorite films, Network.  It was released in 1976, directed by Sidney Lumet, and won three Oscars for acting (Faye Dunaway, Best Actress; Peter Finch, Best Supporting Actor; Beatrice Straight, Best Supporting Actress; with another win for screenwriter Paddy Chayefsky).  It's a hell of a film--and perhaps one that doesn't get as much appreciation as it is due.  There are aspects of it that are dated, of course (unless you lived through it or are a history dork, the "Ecumenical Liberation Army" storyline might make you feel somewhat lost, for example), but it really struck a chord with me today.   

Network tells the story of the fictional UBS television network during the recession and social upheaval of the mid-1970s.  The news division is in trouble, losing more money than it makes, and anchor Howard Beale (Peter Finch) is fired for low ratings.  He announces on-air that he'll commit suicide during his show the following week.  UBS executives allow him to stay on when his ratings spike, as the "mad prophet of the airwaves" who rails against the media and big business, and Beale loses his grip on reality.  Behind the scenes, UBS executives, members of the board, and executives from the conglomerate that owns UBS conspire to get better ratings for the ailing network, at any cost.

According to IMDB (if such sources can be believed), Chayefsky and Lumet meant for the film, which is dubbed a satire, to be a depiction of what was actually happening.  And what is still happening.  It's a chillingly accurate characterization of today's media and today's mindset.  As Aaron Sorkin said (he also cited Network in his Oscar acceptance speech; skip to 2:00), "If you put it in your DVD player today you'll feel like it was written last week...The commoditization of the news and the devaluing of truth are just a part of our way of life now. You wish Chayefsky could come back to life long enough to write 'The Internet.' "  The link above with the Sorkin quotation comes from a New York Times article about screenwriter Chayefsky and gives a very informative overview of his thinking while writing Network and the film's relevancy today.

This is a seriously great movie.  I can't overstate that.  For the love of Bob, please go see it.  Admittedly, there's a lot of yelling.  But that's part of what makes it great--scene chewing (in a good way) from some of the best actors of all time--William Holden, Faye Dunaway, Peter Finch, Ned Beatty, Beatrice Straight, Robert Duvall, and so on.  There are a number of great scenes, such as Finch/Beale's rant about the importance of independent media (and lack thereof) and Ned Beatty (as the chair of the conglomerate that owns UBS) ranting about the one system that runs the world: money.  But below is the piece that most spoke to me.  It's arguably the most famous scene of Network, one that's been borrowed, cribbed, and outright stolen over the past thirty-five years.


It's eerie, isn't it?  Doesn't it feel like the message the Occupy folks are yelling about every day?  This was done thirty-five years ago, and it's just as relevant as it was then.