a real american hero dies.

I actually went to see Troy, having had a long-standing interest in the Iliad, going back to kiddie versions when I was very young. It was better than I thought, but as is typical with this sort of thing, I find it hard to go with the film while I’m focusing on all the ways it diverges from the original source. The story they constructed was actually rather elegant, though bearing little relation to the traditional one; clearly a modern audience wouldn’t be satisfied with Homer, who doesn’t even include Achilles’ death or the climactic sack of Troy. Human political machinations are substituted for godly meddling; there’s more romance, rendered in Harlequin style; and the violence is more bombastic, but no more graphic than it is in the poem. All in all it’s pretty mainstream, and I couldn’t help but think of all the missed possibilities for an “alternative” take on the material. Brad Pitt is impossibly pretty, which is fine for “god-like Achilles”, but there are no homosexual overtones: he is in contrast to the other rough-hewn Greek heroes, and the general relishing of the male body is not extended throughout the corps. Even in classical Greece there were rumors that he and Patroclus were more than just friends, but here Achilles is made to be a protective older cousin. Worse, they missed the chance to have Pitt in drag, trying to avoid conscription at the start of the war. And I won’t even mention the possibilities of the necrophilia scene with the Amazon Achilles falls in love with, after he’s killed her…

Anyway, since JL was asking about rentals kids might like, I’ll say that while there were some impressive visualizations here, if you want a pop mythic epic nothing beats the low-tech (OK, it was high tech then) stop-motion of Jason and the Argonauts, the 1963 sword & sandal classic with effects by Ray Harryhausen.

Mr. BC wants me to fill up his Netflix queue (list of movies for future viewing that are then mailed to you and you mail back) and I'm having trouble lately filling up my own. Popular mixed with obscure is always good. My last three selections, for myself, included School of Rock (goofy comedy, but I haven't actually watched it yet so I don't know if that's true), Ararat (Turks committing genocide on Armenians last century) and Once were Warriors (totally compelling totally depressing Aussie flick).

I am starting out his queue with On the Waterfront because of the many many movies I like I can't think of one I like more.

He's a family man so kid movies are ok too. Ok, ready, jump right in.

I think I got from somebody around here once the suggestion of Little Dieter Needs to Fly and Mr. BC and I both enjoyed that immensly. Ok, this is it, ready...go.

June 29, 8:00pm – 12:00 midnight
Downtown for Democracy hosts “Artworks for Hard Money”

Gavin Brown Enterprise at Passerby
436 West 15th Street

Ten internationally active artists each select works by five contemporary artists whose practice and artwork is of particular significance to them: John Baldessari, Matthew Barney, Cecily Brown, Laura Owens, Elizabeth Peyton, Richard Prince, and Charline von Heyl, among others.
www.downtownfordemocracy.org for more information.

Dubya: I think that shiznit's fair be like that, yo' ass know, that da enemy didn't lay down its arms like we had hoped."

Tom Brokaw: And yo' ass wuz not greeted as liberators like Vice President Cheney be like that yo' ass would be."

Dubya: Well, I think we've been -- let me just -- I think we've been thanked by da muthas of Iraq n' shit. And I think yo' ass'll hear mo' of that from muthas like (my puppet) Prime Minister Alawi 'n da foreign minister, who both has repeatedly, ‘Thank yo' ass fo' what yo' ass've done, 'n by da way, help us, know what I'm sayin'? ’

shizzolated bartcop

"What is the value, for life, of spirituality as a secular discipline? Martin’s art sustains that question, an American preoccupation since the New England transcendentalists, which became newly acute, in art, with Rothko, Newman, and Reinhardt."
LIFE WORK by PETER SCHJELDAHL
Two shows from Agnes Martin.

The Dreamland Artist Club, Coney Island.

Venus begins its transit across the sun in 16 minutes, hold onto your hats.

WNYC 93.9 - up next : "the three young chefs are: Cornelius Gallagher, executive chef of Oceana; Brian Bistrong, executive chef of Josephs on 6th Ave. and 49th St.; and Wylie Dufresne, a James Beard nominee for Rising Star Chef of the Year in 2000 and current owner and chef of WD50 on the Lower East Side. "

bbq

willie, dylan, kid rock, keith, etc.

reagan is dead.

Tom Clancy on Deborah Norville Tonight:

NORVILLE:  And Paul Wolfowitz. 

CLANCY:  Is he really on our side? 

NORVILLE:  You genuinely ask that question?  Is he on our side?

CLANCY:  I sat in on—I was in the Pentagon in ‘01 for a red team operation and he came in and briefed us.  And after the brief, I just thought, is he really on our side?  Sorry. 

GEM

"Bushido--The Way of the Armchair Warrior":
http://www.newyorker.com/shouts/content/?040607sh_shouts

(mea culpa--I don't know why the font turned large all of a sudden--Could it be the heroic scale of the Bushido art?)

Yum

Fahrenheit 9/11 trailer.

Meta-Efficient: A guide to the most efficient things in the world

We have information on Lighting, Refrigeration, Stoves, Washers & Dryers, Televisions, Cooling, Heating, Air Conditioning, Indoor Plants, Toilets, Water Filters, Rain Water Harvesting, Hot Water Systems, Deep Cycle Batteries, Rechargeable Batteries and Paint.

seattle sonics

scapegoat. spelled : T, e, n, e, t.

You are Brody Dalle.You are a hot punk rock chick.
Tough as nails,Intelligent and fun. You've had
some hard times are empathetic yet. You can be
loud and attention getting but also aloof. You
make commitments but surprise everyone with
snap decisions that drastically change your
life.

Which punk rock goddess are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

[via bikenerd]

71 Clinton is at this moment playing live grateful dead from the very early 70's.

And I have nothing to do with it.

get your spell on

My name is Shake-Zula, the mic rulah, the old schoolah, you wanna trip, I'll break it to ya. Frylock and I'm on top rock you like a cop, Meatwad you're up next with your knock-knock. Meatwad make the money see, Meatwad get the honeys G. Drivin in my car, livin like a star, ice on my fingers and my toes and I'm a Taurus. Cause we are the Aqua Teens, make the homeys say ho and the girlies wanna scream.

Anyone else as hooked on this show as me?

I Me Me My