Culture Surfing

Warner Video’s straight-to-DVD animated film Green Lantern: First Flight has a terrific premise. Since the Green Lantern Corps amounts to an intergalactic police force, the creative team offers a story that could be pitched as “Training Day… in space!” Test pilot Hal Jordan (voiced by Christopher Meloni) serves the “Ethan Hawke” role as the inexperienced but shrewd rookie, who finds a mentor in celebrated Green Lantern Sinestro (Victor Garber of “Alias”), the evil “Denzel Washington” of the piece.

Apart from a brisk version of Jordan’s Earthbound origins, First Flight takes place entirely in space, including such alien planets as Oa and Qward. Given the unlimited imaginative canvas of animation, First Flight would seem perfect for an animated film, but it’s a minor disappointment by the standards of such predecessors as the Cold War-era Justice League: New Frontier and the feminist action-fable Wonder Woman.

Continue reading “Summer of Green Lantern, 4: First Flight” »

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1) The Center for Puppetry Arts hosts a screening of In Xanadu.

2) Grupo Fantasma performs at Variety Playhouse.

3) Harvey Milk and Torche play the Earl.

4) Humpday opens at Landmark Midtown Art Cinema.

5) Simone performs at Atlanta Symphony Hall.

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(Photo © Shadowlight Productions)

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Danielle Distefano has been tattooing since age 19 and is one of the proprietors of Only You Tattoo on Memorial Drive, just across the street from Oakland Cemetery. She told Creative Loafing in March, “People are always a little skeptical when you first break into the industry because of the competition. People are gonna make you pay your dues.” But now that she’s established herself as a local tattooist of note, what’s next? Art — and a ton of it. Young Blood Gallery hosts the opening of 100 Ladies this Sat., Aug. 1 from 7-10 p.m.

More from Young Blood:

Preparing for this show has been one of the most challenging things I’ve ever done to my self. I have pushed myself mentally and physically way beyond anything ever in my life. I don’t think I’ve ever been more motivated and determined with my art. It has been amazing and I’m really proud of what I’ve done.

The show will feature 100 tiny paintings in what appear to be vintage frames. Distefano no doubt draws upon her experience inscribing the minute details of feathered wings, dragon scales, and even a “unicorn puking up a rainbow” onto the flesh of her clients. The gal certainly has character (another profile reads: “i heart cake … a lot”)!

(Photo courtesy Young Blood Gallery)

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Stefan Ritter’s hand-thrown bowls and vases are some of the most unpretty pieces of pottery in MudFire Gallery’s Draw + Decal show on view through Aug. 1. “Dunya Akbar,” for example, is a large open bowl covered in various Roman, Arabic, Tibetan and other scripts sitting near the middle of the gallery. Its surface is muddled, splattered in places with something reminiscent of blood. The paint — in radioactive green and corroding rust — is applied in visibly washy strokes. Layer over layer of graffiti, geometric shapes, and quasi-religious images threaten to overwhelm the surface entirely. The combined effect is of some wall in the Gaza Strip or the outskirts of Pretoria, some space that has been contested by the violent clash of cultures and yet miraculously still stands.

Like many artists working in a medium constantly shuttling between craft and fine art, Ritter strives to find ways to poke and prod his audiences when often they’re just expecting pretty salad bowls and flower pots.

“I can tell you that what I’m really looking for is to reach out to people,” says Ritter. “And I don’t mean that in a self-serving way. I think that good, bad, pretty, not pretty — I’m looking for things to be humane. And that’s where [“Dunya Akbar”] was coming from.”

Still, for Ritter the objects he makes can’t be “just art.” Maintaining a tie to the world of functional objects is critical for him. It matters that his cups could be used to drink from even if they likely never will be.

Your background is in architecture, physics and law. How did you get into making pots?
I came to making pots — something that I really was interested in, or just ceramics, making things out of clay — a long, long time ago. When I started practicing law, I was looking for an outlet. Painting sort of seemed like it’d been done … ceramics or throwing pots really seemed interesting. I went to Callanwolde and enrolled in classes there, started doing it, and that was about 20 years ago. And since that time I’ve been throwing pots off and on. A lot of off. Every time I’ve had a kid — and I have three kids — I’ve taken a long break. So, I can’t say I’ve been throwing straight through for 20 years, but off and on for 20 years.

Continue reading “Speakeasy with Stefan Ritter”

(Photo by Erik Haagensen)

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Though best known for his explosive and award-winning performance as Ari Gold on HBO’s “Entourage,” Jeremy Piven has a list of film credits to his name longer than Vince’s bankroll for Aquaman. Acting since the age of 8, Piven has appeared in more than 50 films as well as numerous TV series. The accomplished and surprisingly mild-mannered actor’s latest foray is The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard, the comedic story of maverick used-car liquidator Don Ready. The Goods, opening Aug. 14, is the latest film from Will Ferrell’s prolific production team, Gary Sanchez Productions.

You have an impressive resume but have, in the past, played mostly secondary characters (boyfriends, best friends, husbands). Now, finally, you play the leading man. Do you feel like dues have been paid?
My life mirrors Don Ready’s in a way — everything I’ve done in my life can contribute to this character. He’s been on the road his whole life; I’ve been working my whole life. You play every role like it’s the lead, and it’s helped now that I have it, but it’s a journey and ultimately you’re an apprentice your entire life. Having said that, I feel like I’m smart enough now to know that you’re only as good as the people you surround yourself with, and with this movie, there couldn’t be a better team of people involved.

Continue reading “Speakeasy with Jeremy Piven”

(Image courtesy Paramount Vantage)

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Never mind the Alice in Wonderland trailer and all the Comic-Con clips: the trailer for the new Coen Brothers’ film A Simple Man is one of the best trailers I’ve seen in forever. Following the Oscar-winning drama No Country for Old Men and the star-driven spy comedy Burn After Reading, A Serious Man looks to be a less commercial character study about a college professor’s personal crises in 1967, starring relative unknown Michael Stuhlbarg. The trailer can inspire nervous laughter and looks anything but boring. A Serious Man opens in limited release on Oct. 2.

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POO POO PLATTER: Roommates Leo (Jonah Hill, left) and Mark (Jason Sschwartzman) kiss up to George (Adam Sandler)

GENRE: Bittersweet bromance

THE PITCH: Stand-up comic-turned-movie megastar George Simmons (Adam Sandler as a fictionalized version of himself) mentors aspiring comedian Ira Wright (Seth Rogen) after being diagnosed with a rare disease. Will George’s self-assessment inspire him to reconnect with his former fiancée Laura (Leslie Mann)?

MONEY SHOTS: The film’s best jokes are George’s horrible-looking fake movie hits such as the Splash-like Merman and the magic baby comedy Re-Do. Ira blubbers hilariously while meeting George at a diner. Laura proves to be a terrible liar at a dinner with George and her husband Clarke (Eric Bana). Clarke chases George around a yard when tempers fray.

BEST LINE: “She’s mousy — like a mouse you want to stick your dick in,” remarks Ira’s roommate Leo (Jonah Hill). The film’s comedians joke about almost nothing but genitalia, which indicates their emotional immaturity.

Continue reading “Hollywood Product: Funny People“

(Image by Tracy Bennett/© 2009 Universal Studios)

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STONED COLD SPACEY: Kevin Spacey as Dr. Henry Carter in Shrink

Kevin Spacey seems to hate playing guys we love to hate. The Oscar-winning actor delivers menacing, sarcastic line-readings with such delicious flatness that he commands the screen as a psycho killer or simmering suburbanite with rage issues. One doesn’t begrudge Spacey his bids to avoid typecasting, but his performances in less aggressive roles such as Pay It Forward, The Shipping News and now Shrink simply don’t prove as much fun.

Spacey plays Los Angeles psychologist Henry Carter. The role would seem to be a perfect profession for the actor to play — so many therapists need to cultivate the poker-faced, sphinx-like, Dr. Melfi quality that encourages patients to break the silence and keep talking. Spacey’s Carter isn’t just any shrink, though. He’s a rich, grieving pothead who can’t get past his wife’s death. Plus, he’s a celebrity therapist and best-selling self-help author of such unimaginative titles as Happiness Now and Stop Feeling Sad. (And now he’s sad! The irony!)

Continue reading “Shrink reduces Kevin Spacey to baked couch potato”

(Image by Jihan Abdalla/Roadside Attractions)

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1) Snoop Dogg and Slightly Stoopid perform at the Masquerade.

2) Amanda Gable signs The Confederate General Rides North at Charis Books & More.

3) Whitfield Lovell and Carrie Mae Weems discuss Mercy, Patience and Destiny: The Women of Whitfield Lovell’s Tableux at the Woodruff Arts Center.

4) Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson and John Mellencamp perform at Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre.

5) Wanda Sykes begins a two-night stint at Uptown Comedy Corner.

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(Photo by Jeff Farsai)

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I know cat-based Youtube viral videos are the biggest cliche of the decade, but I thoroughly enjoy the “Simon’s Cat” animated shorts by English animator Simon Tofield. As an animator, Tofield has an appealingly simple, deadpan style, and as a pet owner, he’s clearly a close observer of feline behavior. The newest one, “Fly Guy,” went up on July 24, and though it’s not quite as funny-ha-ha as “Cat Man Do” and “Let Me In,” it’s still pretty amusing. I particularly like the way the cat swells its chest with pride when it presents its “prize.”

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OK, last night I finally went to one of the Plaza’s monthly showings of The Room, a 2003 independent film that has become a cult sensation and the most recent contender for the title of the worst movie ever made.

How bad is it? It’s gloriously, resplendently, wonderfully bad. And I loved every minute of it. The Room is the only movie I’ve seen that honestly lives up to the billing of being “so bad it’s good.” That’s because it was made with the kind of old-fashioned ineptitude that’s impossible to fake. Every aspect of this film is god-awful: the nonsensical dialogue, the excrutiating acting, the laughable soft-core sex scenes, the in-and-out-of-focus camerawork, the disappearing plot points.

The focal point of the film is star/director/writer/producer Tommy Wiseau, whom Curt Holman has previously, and quite accurately, described as looking like “the kind of mob henchman Jean-Claude Van Damme would kick in the face in the first reel.” Wiseau’s Johnny is caught in a love triangle with his “future wife,” Lisa, who’s having an affair with pretty-boy Mark, whom, we’re frequently reminded, is Johnny’s best friend.

Leaving The Room, I had many questions:

• Nearly all of Wiseau’s lines seemed to be looped, that is re-recorded, but how could his heavily accented delivery possibly have been any worse the first time?
• Were Adam Samberg’s facial expressions from the “Jizz in My Pants” video inspired by the actor playing the frat boy with the frosted tips who gets a hummer on Johnny’s couch?
• Why does Lisa’s mother reveal her breast cancer diagnosis with the same level of irritation you might experience at realizing you’re out of toilet paper?
• Continue reading “The Room is the real deal” »

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T minus three days until the 2009 Best of Atlanta ballot closes … have you casted your votes? Think you know the best brunch spot? Have an opinion on who the most fabulous local celebrity is? Want to give a shout out to your favorite band? Well now’s your chance. You can vote online at clatl.com. Clock’s ticking … step to it folks!

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THE FINAL FRONTIER: Ben (Mark Duplass, left) and Andrew (Joshua Leonard) discuss the logistics of getting it on.

Two decades after sex, lies and videotape won the Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival, Lynn Shelton’s Humpday took the 2009 Special Jury Prize in Park City. While more thematically modest and overtly comedic, Humpday bears enough superficial similarities to Steven Soderbergh’s breakthrough film that it almost looks like a 20th anniversary tribute. The lo-fi indies each hinge on a titillating premise involving the recording of unconventional sexuality, yet both spend more time on the emotionally complex expressions of intimacy and identity than bedroom gymnastics.

Like sex, lies and videotape, Humpday begins with a reunion when a shaggy bohemian drops in on his straightlaced friend. City planner Ben (Mark Duplass) gets a surprise visit from wandering artist Andrew (The Blair Witch Project’s Joshua Leonard). Ben and his wife Anna (Alycia Delmore) have been trying to conceive, but Andrew’s presence increasingly distracts Ben from his middle-class life path. Ben skips his wife’s pork chop dinner to hang with Andrew and some polyamorous hippies at a house enigmatically called Dionysus. During a druggy, late-night discussion of an amateur porn contest, Ben suggests that the only frontier left uncrossed would be two straight guys having sex, and the old friends joke about doing each other.

Continue reading “Humorous Humpday considers sex, guys and videotape”

(Photo courtesy Magnolia Pictures)

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1) Chef Craig Richards pimps local heirloom tomatoes at La Tavola Trattoria’s Tomatofeast.

2) Buckwheat Zydeco performs at Smith’s Olde Bar.

3) The National Black Arts Festival kicks off with the Pan African Film Festival and more.

4) Black Moth Super Rainbow plays Drunken Unicorn.

5) Dr. John and the Neville Brothers perform at Chastain Park Amphitheatre.

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(Photo by Flickr.com/clayirving)

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