It’s very rare for a high-concept comedy to work on a consistent level. Often, the movie is only funny in concept and only contains enough successful jokes to string together an amusing trailer. This is not the case with Ricky Gervais’ (co-creator of The Office) co-directorial debut, The Invention of Lying.
While watching, I couldn’t help but be reminded of the classic Bill Murray comedy Groundhog Day. Both stories involve individuals who stumble upon a special ability and proceed to go through the natural stages any omniscient being might: exploitation for personal gain, assisting those in need, and then, ultimately, solving personal romantic struggles.
The Invention of Lying takes place in a world in which lying isn’t just non-existent, but also completely unfathomable. People tell each other exactly what they think, which leads to some very scathing insults at the expense of Gervais’ character, Mark Bellison. Not only do all the characters treat one another with the most brutal form of honesty, but also advertisements and signage follow the same rule (an honest TV commercial for Coke may be the funniest part of the movie). (more…)
“Filler” is a term often used by music fans to describe songs that sound like they were quickly put together to take up space on an album in order to “fill out” the running time. Though filler can often be quite good, snobbier music fans sometimes use it as an excuse to turn their noses up at others. Ironically, this attitude can be just as annoying as the people the snobs want to put down.
I make my living as a Photoshop retoucher. Much of the work I do is celebrity related, and often involves those showy magazine spreads where a B-list celebrity shows off his or her home. It’s MTV Cribs for older generations (in other words, those who still read). What I often find in the photos are startling similarities in artistic taste.
Seemingly every one of these celebrities has the same coffee-table book collection, including books on Picasso, jazz, and Man Ray. It’s as if the photographer carries a satchel of the same books to each celebrity’s house simply for the automatic class boost they provide.
It seems impossible to me that so many people actually have those books because they enjoy the artists’ work. A friend of mine brought up the cynical idea that this is what you get when you allow the masses access to art — great works often become, in effect, filler. The coffee-table book industry is, in many ways, a seller of white noise, used by individuals who hope to give their home an aesthetic boost.
A controversy erupted recently when critics claimed that two of the robots in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen were racist caricatures. What then occurred was the standard Internet back-and-forth over an issue most people really don’t understand.
The characters in question are two transforming Chevys named Skids and Mudflap. These robots speak with stereotypical “urban” voices, have oversized ears, and are apparently illiterate. I must preface this article by saying that I haven’t seen the movie. I have debated whether to see a movie I already know I’ll hate simply to be able to explain to people why, but I don’t really want to be a part of its guaranteed box office intake (it made over $200 million in its first five days).
Actors can be an easy bunch to spot around Los Angeles. Often, they can be seen exiting a Kinko’s with a box of 500 headshots. The male can usually be seen hopping into his Jeep with his Von Dutch hat and designer T-shirt. Like many species, the male actor is the more flamboyant of the sexes.
Some of you will remember that I recently lost my job, which has forced me to start thinking outside of the box. The other day, I responded to a Craigslist ad for a stand-in on a movie set. I’m roughly the same build as one of the listed actors, and attracted by the allure of a $250 day rate, I made the drive into Hollywood on Saturday morning.
I can’t stand Hollywood. It’s filthy; nothing like the shiny image the world seems to have of it. Every inch seems to have a layer of black soot. It’s nearly impossible to drive two blocks under five minutes, and parking costs the price of a matinee movie ticket.
Stepping past a homeless man, I entered the office building and filed into the elevator with four other men. These didn’t look like the actors from my earlier description. These were tired-looking men with weathered faces, the type you’d find in a John Steinbeck novel. Some possessed the same build as me: tall and lanky. My competition. (more…)
We live in a self-absorbed culture. Everything we do is shared through blogs, status updates, and tweets. Now that people have the Internet on their phones, nobody is more than a second away from an update. Yet, in this age of instantaneous content, cinema is still going strong.
Hollywood has panicked a bit in the last few years. For a time, box office numbers took a dive, and they began to blame their troubles on piracy. First, let’s discuss that logic. The entertainment industry always labels pirated works as “lost sales.” That’s not quite true. It’s difficult to predict whether the people who watch pirated movies would have actually paid for that work in the first place. People who use cracked software generally do so out of necessity, and how can the software industry really justify the prices they charge?
None of what I say is the equivocal truth, but then again, neither is the industry’s complaint of “lost sales.” I don’t even know where to look for ripped movies. The people who do it, thought prevalent, still make up an incredibly small number. Would it be justified for the retail industry to blame poor sales on shoplifting, and to call those incidents “lost sales?” (more…)
Whilst reading Jack Feerick’s “How Bad Can It Be” column on Marilyn Manson’s new album, I was struck with an interesting thought. Parents have long feared Manson’s effect on their children, or at least they did when I was in school. Why do we choose to fear that which we have been told to fear?
This isn’t exactly a new thought. Franklin Delano Roosevelt famously said, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” Yet we continue to be afraid for little reason other than we have been told to.
In fact, it seems as if every generation of parents has had a pop-culture influence to be frightened of. Elvis’ hips seem silly now, but at the time they caused a near panic from parents. For every generation of children that grows up under these evil influences, a new fear rises when they raise their own kids.
Movies exploit this concept extraordinarily well. What reason do you really have to fear a horror film? When I was young, I remember being frightened by seeing Freddy Krueger even on a TV commercial. In fact, I’ve never even seen any of the Nightmare on Elm Street movies, probably because I was so terrified of the killer as a child. (more…)
I’ve often written in this column about the state of film criticism and the Internet. It might seem strange that I, an online film columnist, feel I have the authority to judge something I take part in. It’s sort of like those internal government memos that we all question the validity of. Nevertheless, I usurp that power like the demagogue of Popdose.
In our everyday lives, we commonly adhere to societal rules and standards. People mostly treat each other with politeness and courtesy. We hold the door for strangers and wave after another driver lets us change lanes. Do we do this out of our own inner kindness or because we fear retribution for doing the wrong thing?
The Internet is an entirely different world. For many, it has become a separate reality. Often the rules of politeness disintegrate in this world and our truly animalistic side overcomes us. It is the ability to retain anonymity that gives people the strength to ignore the fear of reprisal.
My neighbor Mary has a young dog, named Ash. He’s a mix between a Yellow Labrador and a German Shepherd, and one of the most handsome dogs you’ll ever meet. When Mary leaves town, I often take care of Ash, mostly because I like dogs and enjoy being a helpful guy. (more…)
When our esteemed editor and retired slow jam artist Jeff Giles first asked me to contribute to this site, he wanted me to contribute as a movie critic. I believe what he wanted was a “Chuck Klosterman of movies.” Certainly all of my friends would have thought me a perfect fit, but I told Jeff I’d rather do something a little different.
Popdose currently has two fine critics in Robert Cashill and Lance Berry. These are two gentlemen whose opinions I respect and enjoy. Many times, however, I find myself in serious disagreements with them.
I don’t consider myself a critic, though I have agreed to do the occasional DVD review here. Though I argue with my friends incessantly about film, to the point where they are often surprised when I actually like a movie, I don’t want people to think of me as a critic. Often my opinions stem more from feeling than actual critical thought, which may or may not be a good thing.
Say the name “McG” out loud. Sounds pretty stupid, doesn’t it? Now allow your natural reactions be displayed when I tell you he brought us Charlie’s Angels and Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle. Are you vomiting yet? Now that you know all that, check out this little movie he just made based on the cult, critical, and fan favorite Terminator movies. (more…)
I’ve spent the last week trying to get a trailer ready for my film, Red Gold. That doesn’t even include the time I spent editing the footage or recording the music. The week has mostly been spent finalizing the sound, converting the trailer into a decent Quicktime movie, and attempting to get it online.
It hasn’t been easy. This experience serves as a reminder that, as much as I’d like to, I simply can’t do everything myself. I mentioned my friend Chris Bills in a previous column. Chris does post-production sound, and hears all the little things I can’t. I gave him a demo for some music I recorded at home, and he heard all the noise and fuzz like a canine hears a dog whistle.
This resulted in multiple trips to Chris’ house to work on layering and dialogue mixing. In the end, he did an amazing job a worth far more than the cup of coffee I bought for him. I can’t pay him, but hopefully this project will pay dividends for his resume.
Once the sound was finalized, I faced another hurdle: dealing with my awful web hosting company. I purchased two domain names to redirect to my existing website. Can you guess that it didn’t behave? (more…)
I was shaving this evening. I like to shave at night, because the last thing I want to do when my eyes are still half-closed is rake a piece of sharp metal near my jugular.
During this evening ritual, I contemplated the razor blade industry. For years now, it has continuously sold us on newer blade technologies. Generally, this means stacking more blades. I assume in 10 years, we’ll just stick our heads into giant pencil sharpeners.
In reality, we still only get a few decent shaves out of each razor before having to purchase a replacement, which of course costs more money with every “technological advance.” This means that the Gillettes and the Schicks are taking more of our money for a product whose advantages are debatable.
The film industry is, in many ways, run the same. Technological advancements have become the norm, as have increased ticket prices. In reality, what benefits do we gain from the newer technologies if they are not used to advance the spirit of cinema?
Werner Herzog speaks harshly of the “flashy tricks” of modern filmmakers. “This kind of filmmaking . . . gives you a phony impression that something interesting might be going on. But for me it is a clear sign that I am watching an empty film,” he says. (more…)
![the_invention_of_lying_poster[1]](http://popdose.com/wp-content/uploads/the_invention_of_lying_poster1.jpg "the_invention_of_lying_poster[1]")
It’s very rare for a high-concept comedy to work on a consistent level. Often, the movie is only funny in concept and only contains enough successful jokes to string together an amusing trailer. This is not the case with Ricky Gervais’ (co-creator of The Office) co-directorial debut, The Invention of Lying.![c-water[1]](http://popdose.com/wp-content/uploads/c-water1.jpg "c-water[1]")
“Filler” is a term often used by music fans to describe songs that sound like they were quickly put together to take up space on an album in order to “fill out” the running time. Though filler can often be quite good, snobbier music fans sometimes use it as an excuse to turn their noses up at others. Ironically, this attitude can be just as annoying as the people the snobs want to put down.
Actors can be an easy bunch to spot around Los Angeles. Often, they can be seen exiting a Kinko’s with a box of 500 headshots. The male can usually be seen hopping into his Jeep with his Von Dutch hat and designer T-shirt. Like many species, the male actor is the more flamboyant of the sexes.![mm_twitter[1]](http://popdose.com/wp-content/uploads/mm_twitter1.jpg "mm_twitter[1]")
We live in a self-absorbed culture. Everything we do is shared through blogs, status updates, and tweets. Now that people have the Internet on their phones, nobody is more than a second away from an update. Yet, in this age of instantaneous content, cinema is still going strong.
Whilst reading Jack Feerick’s “How Bad Can It Be” column on Marilyn Manson’s new album, I was struck with an interesting thought. Parents have long feared Manson’s effect on their children, or at least they did when I was in school. Why do we choose to fear that which we have been told to fear?
I’ve often written in this column about the state of film criticism and the Internet. It might seem strange that I, an online film columnist, feel I have the authority to judge something I take part in. It’s sort of like those internal government memos that we all question the validity of. Nevertheless, I usurp that power like the demagogue of Popdose.
When our esteemed editor and 
I’ve spent the last week trying to get a trailer ready for my film, Red Gold. That doesn’t even include the time I spent editing the footage or recording the music. The week has mostly been spent finalizing the sound, converting the trailer into a decent Quicktime movie, and attempting to get it online.
I was shaving this evening. I like to shave at night, because the last thing I want to do when my eyes are still half-closed is rake a piece of sharp metal near my jugular.