Oscar-nominated musician/composer Danny Elfman is back this Halloween with a new music video, putting a retro 1980s style twist on the Boy Harsher remix of his song “Happy.”
The new video is the latest visual to accompany Elfman’s recent remix album, Bigger. Messier [Anti- / Epitaph]. “Complete with unsettlingly saccharine smiles, laughter and cheerleading choreography that feel like a warped VHS tape unearthed from the deepest depths of the 1980s, the music video brings to life the duo’s darkwave pop rendition of the song with the help of directors Muted Widows and Elfman’s creative director Berit Gwendolyn Gilma.”
“The release comes just in time for Elfman’s highly anticipated back-to-back concerts tonight (October 28th) and tomorrow (October 29th) at The Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, CA, both of which will feature Boy Harsher as a special guest. Entitled Danny Elfman: From Boingo to Batman to Big Mess and Beyond!
The new video is the latest visual to accompany Elfman’s recent remix album, Bigger. Messier [Anti- / Epitaph]. “Complete with unsettlingly saccharine smiles, laughter and cheerleading choreography that feel like a warped VHS tape unearthed from the deepest depths of the 1980s, the music video brings to life the duo’s darkwave pop rendition of the song with the help of directors Muted Widows and Elfman’s creative director Berit Gwendolyn Gilma.”
“The release comes just in time for Elfman’s highly anticipated back-to-back concerts tonight (October 28th) and tomorrow (October 29th) at The Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, CA, both of which will feature Boy Harsher as a special guest. Entitled Danny Elfman: From Boingo to Batman to Big Mess and Beyond!
- 10/28/2022
- by John Squires
- bloody-disgusting.com
A year after the release of his first solo album in decades, Big Mess, and a few months after his mind-bending appearances at Coachella, Danny Elfman will return with a star-studded remix album, Bigger. Messier. The record, due out Aug. 29, features rejiggered versions of Big Mess songs with guest shots by Trent Reznor, Xiu Xiu, Health and many others. Elfman is introducing it with a new version of “Kick Me,” which now features Iggy Pop.
The original song was a spasmodic, almost stream-of-consciousness aural seizure on which Elfman sings, “Kick me I’m a celebrity,...
The original song was a spasmodic, almost stream-of-consciousness aural seizure on which Elfman sings, “Kick me I’m a celebrity,...
- 6/29/2022
- by Kory Grow
- Rollingstone.com
Led by Nicole Kidman and Elle Fanning, with a soundtrack featuring artists including Nico Muhly, Jamie Stewart of Xiu Xiu, Matmos and AC Newman of The New Pornographers, it’s a little bit disappointing that “How To Talk To Girls At Parties” has been a bit lost in the wind since debuting at Cannes. The film is gearing up to roll out internationally as we wait any news of a U.S.
Continue reading ‘How To Talk To Girls At Parties’ Trailer: Nicole Kidman & Elle Fanning Make Punk A Way Of Life at The Playlist.
Continue reading ‘How To Talk To Girls At Parties’ Trailer: Nicole Kidman & Elle Fanning Make Punk A Way Of Life at The Playlist.
- 10/6/2017
- by Kevin Jagernauth
- The Playlist
Keep up with the always-hopping film festival world with our weekly Film Festival Roundup column. Check out last week’s Roundup right here.
Lineup Announcements
– Exclusive: Over the last five years, Jacksonville, Florida’s Sun-Ray Cinema has carved out a unique space for adventurous film programming while also reinventing how audiences enjoy blockbuster fare in Northeast Florida. Building on those successes, Sun-Ray has now unveiled their Sleeping Giant Fest. From March 30 – April 2, Sleeping Giant Fest promises to “open your eyes and perk your ears to work that often gets lost in the digital streams that dominate our viewing habits today.” The festival aims “to help you navigate an array of choices that often seems dizzying so you can immerse yourself in these so-called ‘less commercial’ films, repertory titles, and screenings with exciting special guests while enjoying the communal experience that the cinema provides.
With forty film and music events over four lively days,...
Lineup Announcements
– Exclusive: Over the last five years, Jacksonville, Florida’s Sun-Ray Cinema has carved out a unique space for adventurous film programming while also reinventing how audiences enjoy blockbuster fare in Northeast Florida. Building on those successes, Sun-Ray has now unveiled their Sleeping Giant Fest. From March 30 – April 2, Sleeping Giant Fest promises to “open your eyes and perk your ears to work that often gets lost in the digital streams that dominate our viewing habits today.” The festival aims “to help you navigate an array of choices that often seems dizzying so you can immerse yourself in these so-called ‘less commercial’ films, repertory titles, and screenings with exciting special guests while enjoying the communal experience that the cinema provides.
With forty film and music events over four lively days,...
- 2/16/2017
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
Next year the “Twin Peaks” revival from David Lynch and Mark Frost will debut on Showtime. The series, which includes over 200 cast members, has fans pumped up for its return. Now, fans can get excited about a new event that could feature more exciting “Twin Peaks” news.
Lynch announced the Festival of Disruption, a two-day event that will take place October 8-9 at the Ace Hotel in Los Angeles. The celebration will have Angelo Badalamenti performing the music from the hit series along with Xiu Xiu and Sky Ferreira, “Twin Peaks” actors Kyle MacLachlan and Laura Dern will give special talks during the festival, as well as Mel Brooks, Debbie Harry and Chris Stein. The festival will also feature screenings of rarely seen Lynch short films and classics such as “Blue Velvet ” and “The Elephant Man,” Transcendental Meditation sessions and performances by Robert Plant and the Sensational Space Shifters, St. Vincent,...
Lynch announced the Festival of Disruption, a two-day event that will take place October 8-9 at the Ace Hotel in Los Angeles. The celebration will have Angelo Badalamenti performing the music from the hit series along with Xiu Xiu and Sky Ferreira, “Twin Peaks” actors Kyle MacLachlan and Laura Dern will give special talks during the festival, as well as Mel Brooks, Debbie Harry and Chris Stein. The festival will also feature screenings of rarely seen Lynch short films and classics such as “Blue Velvet ” and “The Elephant Man,” Transcendental Meditation sessions and performances by Robert Plant and the Sensational Space Shifters, St. Vincent,...
- 6/21/2016
- by Liz Calvario
- Indiewire
Director David Lynch enlisted rockers, techno producers, DJs, film composers, dance choreographers, and others to participate in the first Festival of Disruption. The full-blown Lynchian event takes place October 8th and 9th at the Ace Hotel and Theater in Los Angeles.
Robert Plant & the Sensational Space Shifters, Angelo Badalamenti (performing the music of Twin Peaks), Xiu Xiu, St. Vincent, Sky Ferreira, Jon Hopkins, Questlove (DJ set), and more will perform. Experimental architect Frank Gehry, actor Mel Brooks and Blondie’s Debbie Harry and Chris Stein will give talks. Lynch also...
Robert Plant & the Sensational Space Shifters, Angelo Badalamenti (performing the music of Twin Peaks), Xiu Xiu, St. Vincent, Sky Ferreira, Jon Hopkins, Questlove (DJ set), and more will perform. Experimental architect Frank Gehry, actor Mel Brooks and Blondie’s Debbie Harry and Chris Stein will give talks. Lynch also...
- 6/21/2016
- Rollingstone.com
“Life is a festival of disruption,” Maharishi Mahesh Yogi once said. David Lynch is now set to live by this quote by “creating a mysterious & beautiful world” with the just-announced Festival of Disruption. Set to occur October 8 and 9 at the Ace Hotel in Los Angeles, on the film side, it will feature screenings of The Elephant Man, rare shorts from Lynch, and the documentary Blue Velvet Revisited. (It’s not mentioned, but this would be the ideal place to show off some of the new Twin Peaks, if you are listening, Showtime.)
On the music side, there will be performances from St. Vincent, Sky Ferreira, Robert Plant & the Sensational Space Shifters, composer Angelo Badalamenti, Xiu Xiu, DJ’ing from Questlove, and more. Kyle MacLachlan and Laura Dern will also participate in a talk, while Mel Brooks will give his own, as well as Debbie Harry and Chris Stein. That’s not all,...
On the music side, there will be performances from St. Vincent, Sky Ferreira, Robert Plant & the Sensational Space Shifters, composer Angelo Badalamenti, Xiu Xiu, DJ’ing from Questlove, and more. Kyle MacLachlan and Laura Dern will also participate in a talk, while Mel Brooks will give his own, as well as Debbie Harry and Chris Stein. That’s not all,...
- 6/21/2016
- by Leonard Pearce
- The Film Stage
One of the most anticipated features to possibly debut on the film festival circuit later this year is “How To Talk To Girls At Parties,” starring Elle Fanning. Described as an almost enigmatic alien-punk coming-of-age romance in 70’s-era London, the long-awaited fourth feature from director John Cameron Mitchell is an adaptation of a [very] short […]
The post First Look: Elle Fanning In ‘How To Talk To Girls At Parties’; Xiu Xiu, Matmos New Pornographers Writing Original Music appeared first on The Playlist.
The post First Look: Elle Fanning In ‘How To Talk To Girls At Parties’; Xiu Xiu, Matmos New Pornographers Writing Original Music appeared first on The Playlist.
- 5/12/2016
- by Jason Osiason
- The Playlist
“Punks and aliens” feature from director John Cameron Mitchell [pictured] also stars Alex Sharp.
Sci-fi romance How To Talk To Girls At Parties, starring Elle Fanning (Maleficent), Tony Award-winning Alex Sharp (The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time) and Nicole Kidman, has begun principal photography in the UK, where it will shoot for six weeks.
Directed by John Cameron Mitchell (Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Shortbus), the film is based on a short story by Neil Gaiman (Coraline) from his collection “Fragile Things”.
The screenplay has been written by Philippa Goslett (Little Ashes) with Mitchell. Kidman reunites with Mitchell, who directed her Oscar-nominated performance in Rabbit Hole (2010).
The cast also includes Ruth Wilson (The Affair), Matt Lucas (Bridesmaids) and Joanna Scanlan (The Invisible Woman).
The story centres on a shy teenage punk in 1970s London (Sharp) who falls for an alien girl (Fanning) whose race plans a showdown with humans.
Producers are [link...
Sci-fi romance How To Talk To Girls At Parties, starring Elle Fanning (Maleficent), Tony Award-winning Alex Sharp (The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time) and Nicole Kidman, has begun principal photography in the UK, where it will shoot for six weeks.
Directed by John Cameron Mitchell (Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Shortbus), the film is based on a short story by Neil Gaiman (Coraline) from his collection “Fragile Things”.
The screenplay has been written by Philippa Goslett (Little Ashes) with Mitchell. Kidman reunites with Mitchell, who directed her Oscar-nominated performance in Rabbit Hole (2010).
The cast also includes Ruth Wilson (The Affair), Matt Lucas (Bridesmaids) and Joanna Scanlan (The Invisible Woman).
The story centres on a shy teenage punk in 1970s London (Sharp) who falls for an alien girl (Fanning) whose race plans a showdown with humans.
Producers are [link...
- 11/10/2015
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
The New York-based firm has acquired Us rights to John Cameron Mitchell’s upcoming sci-fi to star Elle Fanning, Nicole Kidman and Alex Sharp.
Production on How To Talk To Girls At Parties is scheduled for November based on Neil Gaiman’s short story about a shy teenage punk in 1970s London who falls for an alien girl whose race plans a showdown with humans.
Howard Gertler produces with Iain Canning and Emile Sherman, while Gaiman serves as executive producer.
“We are absolutely delighted to be getting on board How To Talk To Girls At Parties – the script is both great fun and an affectionate celebration of the outsider spirit and we know John Cameron Mitchell is the perfect person to bring this wild and singular universe to life,” said A24.
“We are thrilled to be working with him along with the movie’s top-tier producing team.”
“A24 is the best Us indie film distributor for a film...
Production on How To Talk To Girls At Parties is scheduled for November based on Neil Gaiman’s short story about a shy teenage punk in 1970s London who falls for an alien girl whose race plans a showdown with humans.
Howard Gertler produces with Iain Canning and Emile Sherman, while Gaiman serves as executive producer.
“We are absolutely delighted to be getting on board How To Talk To Girls At Parties – the script is both great fun and an affectionate celebration of the outsider spirit and we know John Cameron Mitchell is the perfect person to bring this wild and singular universe to life,” said A24.
“We are thrilled to be working with him along with the movie’s top-tier producing team.”
“A24 is the best Us indie film distributor for a film...
- 9/16/2015
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
The acquisitions scene has been quiet in Toronto this year, though A24 has just nabbed one of the big pre-buys off the market with John Cameron Mitchell's "How to Talk to Girls at Parties." The film will unite Mitchell with Alex Sharp, Tony winner from Broadways "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time," and once again with Nicole Kidman, Oscar-nominated for his 2010 drama "Rabbit Hole." Based on a story by cult author Neil Gaiman, who executive-produces alongside producers Howard Gertler and Iain Canning and Emile Sherman, "How to Talk to Girls" starts shooting in November. The film centers on a teen punk rocker, Enn, in 1970s suburban London who, with his two close friends, crash a party of otherworldly women they soon realize are actually aliens from another planet, and they have a malevolent plan in mind. Mitchell cowrote the script with Philippa Goslett ("Little Ashes") and,...
- 9/15/2015
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Thompson on Hollywood
Sure, 2014 may be on track to be the worst year in SoundScan's history for music sales, but there might be some bright spots in some very unsuspecting corners: PornHub and Urban Outfitters. Today, the pornography site announced that it was starting its own label, in a report from Billboard. And yesterday, the clothing and home goods retailer claimed to be "the world's number one vinyl seller," according to Buzzfeed. (Pictured: Lana Del Rey, whose most recent record "UltraViolence" can be bought now via Urban Outfitters as an "exclusive edition" on blue and lavender vinyl with special album art.) As for the former, PornHub Records has launched, and coincides with a Song Search Contest to find a "PornHub Anthem." The winner won't necessarily be signed to the label, but is guaranteed to be have chosen from a panel (chock full of who we assume will be very distinguished guests) and the...
- 9/25/2014
- by Katie Hasty
- Hitfix
The Magnificent Swordsman
Written by Ko Jui-Fen
Directed by Griffin Yueh Feng and Ching Gong
Hong Kong, 1968
At what point should movie watchers applaud a film which borrows heavily from other familiar sources for the quality of the filmmaking and when is it too apparent that said film is incapable of overcoming the fatal flaw that can be the lack of originality? It is a tricky question to say the least, one interested in the very slippery slope of homages, remakes, nods and the like in the realm of cinema. If one is being honest, there exists no singular answer encompassing all variations of circumstances under which directors, writers and producers are either playfully playing tribute to other material or rather unashamedly ripping off of it. Even in the latter category, provided the new film is of quality and possesses just enough of its own identity, does there still exist...
Written by Ko Jui-Fen
Directed by Griffin Yueh Feng and Ching Gong
Hong Kong, 1968
At what point should movie watchers applaud a film which borrows heavily from other familiar sources for the quality of the filmmaking and when is it too apparent that said film is incapable of overcoming the fatal flaw that can be the lack of originality? It is a tricky question to say the least, one interested in the very slippery slope of homages, remakes, nods and the like in the realm of cinema. If one is being honest, there exists no singular answer encompassing all variations of circumstances under which directors, writers and producers are either playfully playing tribute to other material or rather unashamedly ripping off of it. Even in the latter category, provided the new film is of quality and possesses just enough of its own identity, does there still exist...
- 2/10/2013
- by Edgar Chaput
- SoundOnSight
It’s the last Walking Dead till February, and full-scale conflict has made its way to the streets of Woodbury. Will we be able to cope with the loss of Oscar? Has Andrea gotten any smarter? Is Cutty from the Wire now part of the cast? (The answers are yes, no, and yes.) More as we discuss the show’s midseason finale, “Made to Suffer.”
Playlist:
Xiu Xiu, “Born to Suffer”
Listen on iTunes Twitter...
Playlist:
Xiu Xiu, “Born to Suffer”
Listen on iTunes Twitter...
- 12/4/2012
- by Ricky
- SoundOnSight
It still seems odd to hear Xiu Xiu leader Jamie Stewart at the helm of pop song, as if his dark and unflinching worldview might actually have room for some kind of joy. To be sure, there’s always been a sense that he’d been searching for it, but it’s also like a dog chasing a car, or like maybe Stewart was getting off on being miserable. Maybe that’s a projection.
- 3/5/2012
- Pastemagazine.com
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Xiu Xiu: avant-garde provocateurs of the last ten years. Jamie Stewart’s brainchild. Eight studio albums, ‘Always’ being the eighth. Every release has been as diverse and as absorbing to the level that it’s now got to a point where you can’t possibly tell what the next Xiu Xiu album is going to sound like. Is this a good thing, you ask? Well, I’ll leave that for you to decide, but any band that can alter and shape their sound in a way that’s almost unrecognisable from their other material can only be seen as a good thing, in my eyes (mind). It shows that the band’s striving to eke out every drop of creativity they have, and also, it kind of shows that they actually don’t care whether or not if listeners like the stuff; they’ve got it out there,...
Xiu Xiu: avant-garde provocateurs of the last ten years. Jamie Stewart’s brainchild. Eight studio albums, ‘Always’ being the eighth. Every release has been as diverse and as absorbing to the level that it’s now got to a point where you can’t possibly tell what the next Xiu Xiu album is going to sound like. Is this a good thing, you ask? Well, I’ll leave that for you to decide, but any band that can alter and shape their sound in a way that’s almost unrecognisable from their other material can only be seen as a good thing, in my eyes (mind). It shows that the band’s striving to eke out every drop of creativity they have, and also, it kind of shows that they actually don’t care whether or not if listeners like the stuff; they’ve got it out there,...
- 2/20/2012
- by Rhys Milsom
- Obsessed with Film
This Week’s Absolute Must Read: Mark Toscano’s touching tribute to the recently deceased Robert Nelson. I posted this link up a few days ago in Nelson’s Bad Lit obit, but I know from my stats that not many of you clicked it. If you haven’t read this yet, you must do so. Nelson is one of the under-appreciated greats of the ’60s underground and his work may have been lost forever if not for Toscano. This is important. Go read. And learn.Also on Nelson, Making Light of It has scanned in and posted Scott MacDonald’s interview with the filmmaker for his Critical Cinema series.And, while you’re at it, go check out Canyon Cinema’s Robert Nelson offerings and read up on his work.And in “classic” underground filmmaker news, Experimental Cinema has the scoop on Criterion putting out a Hollis Frampton DVD and Blu-ray.
- 1/15/2012
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
No one ever accused Sam Mickens of a lack of theatricality. His prolific output with various avant-indie groups—among them Xiu Xiu, Parenthetical Girls, and his own outfit The Dead Science—has always exhibited a shameless, even decadent obsession with grand gestures and epic dramatism. But Mickens lets it all hang out, slightly for the worse but mostly for the better, on his debut solo album, Slay & Slake. Opening with “Lord Death Man” is a gutsy move; imagining Seventh Son-era Iron Maiden collaborating with Antony And The Johnsons, the song starts with soaringly harmonized metal guitars before slinking into ...
- 1/3/2012
- avclub.com
For the last couple of years, September has, along with the beginning of the school year, meant one thing: the Toronto International Film Fest has again reared its head. This year, though, things turned out differently. Way back in April, I applied to be one of fifty students admitted to the Telluride Film Festival’s Student Symposium, a process that involved writing an essay. The essay question: “If you were being sent into the distant future, and you could take just one film with you, which would you take, and why?”
The following was my response:
My choice of Terry Gilliam’s Brazil (1984) is a personally loaded one. I first saw Brazil when I was about fourteen years old, growing up in Halifax, Nova Scotia, where there was only one video store worth frequenting – Halifax Video. (That’s still the case.) I was quickly developing elitist tastes in music – much...
The following was my response:
My choice of Terry Gilliam’s Brazil (1984) is a personally loaded one. I first saw Brazil when I was about fourteen years old, growing up in Halifax, Nova Scotia, where there was only one video store worth frequenting – Halifax Video. (That’s still the case.) I was quickly developing elitist tastes in music – much...
- 8/30/2011
- by Simon Howell
- SoundOnSight
While Lollapalooza and Pitchfork dominate all the festival headlines in the great state of Illinois, there’s a whole bunch of other notable festivals worth checking out —including Champaign-Urbana’s very own Pygmalion Music Festival. The four-day event, which will take place for its seventh year on Sept. 21-24, will feature the likes of Explosions in the Sky, Braid, Toro Y Moi, Deerhoof, Japandroids, Xiu Xiu, Starfucker, Owen and Someone Still Loves You Boris Yelstin....
- 4/29/2011
- Pastemagazine.com
Everything about Cold Cave just screamed "bah humbug" to me. Their sour grapes promo photo looks like somebody watched too many hours of "The Kardashians." The title of their track "The Great Pan Is Dead" looks like it was pulled from a publishing template of Nostalgic Melancholia. Two artists that Pandora pulled up as a "like" Cold Cave were Xiu Xiu and Suicide. And yet this song, culled from their forthcoming full-length "Cherish the Light Years," is one of the most mystifyingly electric, intuitive, ballsy demon exorcisms I've heard this year, at least from the synth-rock camp. Wesley Eisold moans about...
- 2/5/2011
- Hitfix
Indie avant-garde rock band Xiu Xiu has been known to get quirky underground film directors to make their music videos. Embedded into this post are two great examples. Above is the quietly beautiful video for the song “The Fox and the Rabbit” directed by Cam Archer. And below is the frighteningly deranged video for “Bog People” directed by Bob Moricz. Both videos are very different, but are appropriately fitting for the songs they accompany.
Each video also unmistakably fits in perfectly with its respective director’s filmography. Archer’s short films, such as above below, are emotionally painful examinations of alienated teenagers, while Moricz’s work, such as his webseries Overdose in the Hospital of Love, are typically psychedelic, violent melodramas. While these two directors choose very different subject matter to explore, their visuals for these two particular songs are devastatingly enhanced by the sadness of the music, giving them...
Each video also unmistakably fits in perfectly with its respective director’s filmography. Archer’s short films, such as above below, are emotionally painful examinations of alienated teenagers, while Moricz’s work, such as his webseries Overdose in the Hospital of Love, are typically psychedelic, violent melodramas. While these two directors choose very different subject matter to explore, their visuals for these two particular songs are devastatingly enhanced by the sadness of the music, giving them...
- 1/24/2011
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
Collaborative projects are often a way for otherwise serious artists to goof around and let off a little steam. Blue Water White Death is no different; the self-titled debut teams two of indie-rock’s most melodramatically arty songsmiths, Xiu Xiu’s Jamie Stewart and Shearwater’s Jonathan Meiburg, and the result is a batch of tunes with titles like “Rendering The Juggalos,” “Death For Christmas,” and “This Is The Scrunchyface Of My Dreams.” But if this is how Stewart and Meiburg play around, fear for them. “There’s a darkness in here that I want to unfurl,” Stewart sings on ...
- 10/26/2010
- avclub.com
Anyone remember that weird answering machine YouTube clip of "Dimitri the Lover" going around the internet a couple years back? I probably linked it here but I'm too lazy to go back and check. Well, now its been made into a movie. How ... Uhh, timely. (Ybnby)
If you happened to be out in Santa Monica over the weekend you may have noticed a hooker with a puppy who looked strangely like Miley Cyrus. (Litelysalted)
Remember that British series I told you about, "The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret," starring David Cross? Well, you can now watch the pilot online. (The Playlist)
If you're too lazy to mix together a can of tuna and mayo all by yourself: Good news! You can now buy pre-mixed tuna and mayo. USA! USA! (Impulsive Buy)
I'm generally wary of anything involving the Farrelly Brothers, but I am slightly intrigued at the news that...
If you happened to be out in Santa Monica over the weekend you may have noticed a hooker with a puppy who looked strangely like Miley Cyrus. (Litelysalted)
Remember that British series I told you about, "The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret," starring David Cross? Well, you can now watch the pilot online. (The Playlist)
If you're too lazy to mix together a can of tuna and mayo all by yourself: Good news! You can now buy pre-mixed tuna and mayo. USA! USA! (Impulsive Buy)
I'm generally wary of anything involving the Farrelly Brothers, but I am slightly intrigued at the news that...
- 2/23/2010
- by Stacey Nosek
Baiting the haters seems like a full-time job for Jamie Stewart. The showy Xiu Xiu frontman has spent eight years upping the fuel he feeds his detractors, recycling the same art-pop, post-punk, theatricality, and clever self-reference he’s used all along. But he’s imbued his seventh studio full-length, Dear God, I Hate Myself, with a brittle, frosty sheen, partly due to new keyboardist and programmer Angela Seo. Stewart’s morbid, literate solipsism is offset here by consistently engaging tunes that experiment with—but don’t overdose on—concept or texture. Referencing everything from Omd’s Dazzle Ships (on the ...
- 2/23/2010
- avclub.com
Maybe it's the volatile nature of the beast, but it always seems like it's extremely difficult to keep a good hardcore band together. With all that raw emotion coming out of the singer's throat and the inevitable misplaced flailing limb, it's no wonder that many of the most intense groups break up just as they're getting good (this is called the Hüsker Dü effect). So it was not especially surprising when truly stunning outfit Some Girls called it quits in 2007, right after releasing the stunning Heaven's Pregnant Teens. It's possible that frontman Wesley Eisold has mellowed a bit, but it's more likely that he's simply more curious about machines now, hence his new project Cold Cave.
It's best to think of the Philadelphia-based Cold Cave as the New Order to Some Girls' Joy Division, a synth-heavy, dance-friendly version of a caustic, abrasive experiment. The band's just-released debut album, Love Comes Close,...
It's best to think of the Philadelphia-based Cold Cave as the New Order to Some Girls' Joy Division, a synth-heavy, dance-friendly version of a caustic, abrasive experiment. The band's just-released debut album, Love Comes Close,...
- 11/9/2009
- by Kyle Anderson
- MTV Newsroom
Killer Imports [1] is a regular feature on Film Junk where we explore foreign-language films from around the world that haven’t yet had their chance to shine. See Jackie Chan drive a farm tractor on an iced, shallow pond and fall through! That’s the only promotional blurb I can think of to sell this latest Jackie Chan movie to a Jackie Chan audience. Shinjuku Incident marks Jackie Chan’s first full attempt at a dramatic role. His role in the 2004 New Police Story movie was more of a transitory role in which he got to do some emoting as a drunken cop and for which he received a Best Actor nomination by the Hong Kong Film Awards and a win by the Golden Rooster Awards. And although there is action in this movie with gangs fighting each other, Jackie’s trademark stunts and fighting skills are nowhere to be seen.
- 8/17/2009
- by Reed
- FilmJunk
Want to know the status of a particular movie, TV show, or band? Wondering what a certain actress is up to these days? Send your entertainment-related questions to askafterellen@gmail.com — with your first name, city and country — and we'll try to answer as many as we can.
Question: I loved But I'm a Cheerleader, and I have watched Itty Bitty Titty Committee ten times now. Enough already! When is Jamie Babbit's next movie coming out?
― Tina, Columbia, MD
Jamie Babbit
Answer: Did you check out Babbit's 2005 feature, The Quiet, starring Elisha Cuthbert, Camilla Belle and Edie Falco? If not, the cast alone should be enough to send you to the video store.
I passed your question along to Babbitt, who told me:
I'm currently casting for my new film called Breaking The Girl. It's tonally in the vein of Body Heat, with lots of bi beauties and femme fatales.
Question: I loved But I'm a Cheerleader, and I have watched Itty Bitty Titty Committee ten times now. Enough already! When is Jamie Babbit's next movie coming out?
― Tina, Columbia, MD
Jamie Babbit
Answer: Did you check out Babbit's 2005 feature, The Quiet, starring Elisha Cuthbert, Camilla Belle and Edie Falco? If not, the cast alone should be enough to send you to the video store.
I passed your question along to Babbitt, who told me:
I'm currently casting for my new film called Breaking The Girl. It's tonally in the vein of Body Heat, with lots of bi beauties and femme fatales.
- 6/2/2009
- by karman
- AfterEllen.com
It’s been a while since I saw a trailer for a Jackie Chan movie and thought, “Wow, I’d sure like to see that.” This is no “Rush Hour”, folks, this is Jackie Chan doing the drama thing, and from the looks of this trailer, “The Shinjuku Incident” looks like it has the makings of an epic gangster film devoid of the usual Chan pratfalls and wacky faces. Watch the Clown Prince of Kung Fu cry, shoot, and stab bad Japanese people after the jump. About the movie: In the early 1990s, a tractor mechanic from China nicknamed Steelhead (Jackie Chan) enters Japan illegally, in search of his girlfriend Xiu Xiu (Xu Jinglei). Steelhead and his friend, Jie (Daniel Wu) meet in the busy Shinjuku district of Tokyo and take manual labouring jobs to earn money. When Steelhead finds out that Xiu Xiu has married a Japanese Yakuza leader...
- 3/9/2009
- by Nix
- Beyond Hollywood
"Xiu Xiu" (The Sent-Down Girl), the directorial debut of Shanghai-born actress Joan Chen ("The Last Emperor") is clumsy but alluring. A melodrama about an innocent, naive girl who gets stuck out in the Chinese hinterland and desperately turns to prostitution to get back home, its best draw is that it gives the audience a rare glimpse at a bizarre life during the Cultural Revolution in China.
The film will be a hard sell, saddled as it is with all the cliches of foreign films: unpolished, a little odd, enigmatic. However, with the proper marketing it could achieve a modest specialty following.
Chen's direction is jumpy and badly edited, with too many unmotivated actions and superfluous scenes, and the ending is highly melodramatic. It is slow in the beginning and never picks up pace, but a certain fascination arises about midway, when it finally becomes clear what this girl's dilemma is.
Xiu Xiu (Lu Lu) is a young, pretty girl sent during the Cultural Revolution to the far countryside to be trained as a horse herder. Her only companion on the vast, empty steppes is a castrated, laconic herder named Lao Yin (Lopsang).
When the time comes for her to return home, however, she has been forgotten, and without valid papers she cannot get home. Desperately, she begins selling her body to passing farmers who promise her that they have influence with all the right authorities. Lao Yin looks helplessly on, and it is never clear whether he doesn't care about her plight, is overwhelmed by his own helplessness or is simply incompetent as the young girl's hero/savior.
There is also no interaction between them of the kind one might expect from an American film, in which Lao Yin would teach her the ways of horsemanship and the land and all this would heal her soul. There is no healing for her here. She simply wants to go home, and can't.
Their ambivalent and laconic relationship makes the film haunting to watch: two stranded characters trapped not by walls but by the empty vastness around them.
The less they talk, the less they do, the more obvious it becomes that they cannot escape. One feels that the wide open spaces have seeped into their souls.
The film will be a hard sell, saddled as it is with all the cliches of foreign films: unpolished, a little odd, enigmatic. However, with the proper marketing it could achieve a modest specialty following.
Chen's direction is jumpy and badly edited, with too many unmotivated actions and superfluous scenes, and the ending is highly melodramatic. It is slow in the beginning and never picks up pace, but a certain fascination arises about midway, when it finally becomes clear what this girl's dilemma is.
Xiu Xiu (Lu Lu) is a young, pretty girl sent during the Cultural Revolution to the far countryside to be trained as a horse herder. Her only companion on the vast, empty steppes is a castrated, laconic herder named Lao Yin (Lopsang).
When the time comes for her to return home, however, she has been forgotten, and without valid papers she cannot get home. Desperately, she begins selling her body to passing farmers who promise her that they have influence with all the right authorities. Lao Yin looks helplessly on, and it is never clear whether he doesn't care about her plight, is overwhelmed by his own helplessness or is simply incompetent as the young girl's hero/savior.
There is also no interaction between them of the kind one might expect from an American film, in which Lao Yin would teach her the ways of horsemanship and the land and all this would heal her soul. There is no healing for her here. She simply wants to go home, and can't.
Their ambivalent and laconic relationship makes the film haunting to watch: two stranded characters trapped not by walls but by the empty vastness around them.
The less they talk, the less they do, the more obvious it becomes that they cannot escape. One feels that the wide open spaces have seeped into their souls.
- 6/24/1999
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
"Xiu Xiu" (The Sent-Down Girl), the directorial debut of Shanghai-born actress Joan Chen ("The Last Emperor") is clumsy but alluring. A melodrama about an innocent, naive girl who gets stuck out in the Chinese hinterland and desperately turns to prostitution to get back home, its best draw is that it gives the audience a rare glimpse at a bizarre life during the Cultural Revolution in China.
The film will be a hard sell, saddled as it is with all the cliches of foreign films: unpolished, a little odd, enigmatic. However, with the proper marketing it could achieve a modest specialty following.
Chen's direction is jumpy and badly edited, with too many unmotivated actions and superfluous scenes, and the ending is highly melodramatic. It is slow in the beginning and never picks up pace, but a certain fascination arises about midway, when it finally becomes clear what this girl's dilemma is.
Xiu Xiu (Lu Lu) is a young, pretty girl sent during the Cultural Revolution to the far countryside to be trained as a horse herder. Her only companion on the vast, empty steppes is a castrated, laconic herder named Lao Yin (Lopsang).
When the time comes for her to return home, however, she has been forgotten, and without valid papers she cannot get home. Desperately, she begins selling her body to passing farmers who promise her that they have influence with all the right authorities. Lao Yin looks helplessly on, and it is never clear whether he doesn't care about her plight, is overwhelmed by his own helplessness or is simply incompetent as the young girl's hero/savior.
There is also no interaction between them of the kind one might expect from an American film, in which Lao Yin would teach her the ways of horsemanship and the land and all this would heal her soul. There is no healing for her here. She simply wants to go home, and can't.
Their ambivalent and laconic relationship makes the film haunting to watch: two stranded characters trapped not by walls but by the empty vastness around them.
The less they talk, the less they do, the more obvious it becomes that they cannot escape. One feels that the wide open spaces have seeped into their souls.
XIU XIU
Good Machine
a Whispering Steppes L.P. production
of a Joan Chen film
Director: Joan Chen
Executive producers: Joan Chen,
Allison Liu, Cecile Shah Tsuei
Producers: Joan Chen, Alice Chan
Associate producer: Ruby Yang
Screenplay: Yan Geling, Joan Chen
Based on the story "Tian Yu" by Yan Geling
Production designer: Pan Lai
Director of photography: Lu Yue
Editor: Ruby Yang
Music: Johnny Chen
Color
Cast:
Xiu Xiu: Lu Lu
Lao Yin: Lopsang
Li Chuanbei: Qian Zheng
Mother: Gao Jie
Headquarters Chief: Li Zhizhen
Peddler: Gao Qiang
Motorcycle man: Qin Wenyuan
Three Toes: Cao Jiong
Running time -- 100 minutes...
The film will be a hard sell, saddled as it is with all the cliches of foreign films: unpolished, a little odd, enigmatic. However, with the proper marketing it could achieve a modest specialty following.
Chen's direction is jumpy and badly edited, with too many unmotivated actions and superfluous scenes, and the ending is highly melodramatic. It is slow in the beginning and never picks up pace, but a certain fascination arises about midway, when it finally becomes clear what this girl's dilemma is.
Xiu Xiu (Lu Lu) is a young, pretty girl sent during the Cultural Revolution to the far countryside to be trained as a horse herder. Her only companion on the vast, empty steppes is a castrated, laconic herder named Lao Yin (Lopsang).
When the time comes for her to return home, however, she has been forgotten, and without valid papers she cannot get home. Desperately, she begins selling her body to passing farmers who promise her that they have influence with all the right authorities. Lao Yin looks helplessly on, and it is never clear whether he doesn't care about her plight, is overwhelmed by his own helplessness or is simply incompetent as the young girl's hero/savior.
There is also no interaction between them of the kind one might expect from an American film, in which Lao Yin would teach her the ways of horsemanship and the land and all this would heal her soul. There is no healing for her here. She simply wants to go home, and can't.
Their ambivalent and laconic relationship makes the film haunting to watch: two stranded characters trapped not by walls but by the empty vastness around them.
The less they talk, the less they do, the more obvious it becomes that they cannot escape. One feels that the wide open spaces have seeped into their souls.
XIU XIU
Good Machine
a Whispering Steppes L.P. production
of a Joan Chen film
Director: Joan Chen
Executive producers: Joan Chen,
Allison Liu, Cecile Shah Tsuei
Producers: Joan Chen, Alice Chan
Associate producer: Ruby Yang
Screenplay: Yan Geling, Joan Chen
Based on the story "Tian Yu" by Yan Geling
Production designer: Pan Lai
Director of photography: Lu Yue
Editor: Ruby Yang
Music: Johnny Chen
Color
Cast:
Xiu Xiu: Lu Lu
Lao Yin: Lopsang
Li Chuanbei: Qian Zheng
Mother: Gao Jie
Headquarters Chief: Li Zhizhen
Peddler: Gao Qiang
Motorcycle man: Qin Wenyuan
Three Toes: Cao Jiong
Running time -- 100 minutes...
- 2/20/1998
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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