K and I finished the Ryan Murphy adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis's The Shards last week. I say finished despite the fact that the show reveals itself to be a set-up for a multi-season series rather than a mini-series. Suddenly all the unnecessary "Murphy-isms" that took over the story after the second episode become understandable. Understandable, but not forgivable. I didn't hate this, but I LOVE the book, which I first encountered on the BEE podcast when he read it weekly during COVID. As he was writing it, I should say. IF this gets picked up for more episodes, I'll watch them. But goddamn did this adaptation drive me insane.
If you know the book, you know this song is very important to it. If you watched the show, you might agree with me that, despite my other misgivings, they've done a couple really cool scenes with this, especially in the season finale.
NCBD:
The return of one of my favorite titles in recent memory! What a great week. Let's get into it:
Robert Kirkman bringing in the goofy G.I.JOE: Star Brigade character! This was way after my time with the toy back in the day, and reading about it, as stupid as this sounds, I'd be willing to bet Kirkman will make this awesome.
And the second issue of Sean Murphy's The Last Driver! I loved the first issue and am eager to get further into this world Murphy has created. His futuristic world-building is always so rooted in real world current events, there's equal parts glamor and revulsion, i.e. the world of Punk Rock Jesus. Not sure how far this will go, but I can't wait to find out.
Watch:
Monday I had the day off work so I could drive down to the Belcourt Theatre early enough to park for a triple feature. Well, a single feature followed by a double feature, if you will.
The impetus for the trip was Joe Bob Briggs and Darcy the Mail Girl's Indoor Drive-In Geek Out: Cult of the Rock Star Night. The two films they showed for this were Don Coscarelli's Bubba Hotep and Roger Corman's Rock n' Roll High School. The first, I've been a fan of since I saw it open at Chicago's Music Box back in 2002. The second, I'd never seen. Imagine my excitement!
In his introduction to Bubba Hotep, Joe Bob reminded me of a few things I'd forgotten about the film. Namely, that it was a truly independent film, so much so that, when I saw it back in '02, I was supporting Coscarelli's distribution tour for the film, which no distributor would touch. This one really held up; I've come to see how depressing it is the older I've become (go figure), but Bruce Campbell and Ossie Davis both give helluva performances, and the overall maudlin aesthetic resonates as something no one really wants to talk about - getting old. So I'm glad Coscarelli chose this one, which I'd also forgotten is based on a Joe R. Landsdale short story.
The second film and evening closer was Rock 'n' Roll High School. Roger Corman produced, directed by Alan Arkush with a hand from Joe Dante, I wasn't sure how I would feel about this. I've never really been much of a Ramones fan. If you'd asked me why that is, before Monday night, I would never have been able to put it into words. I didn't not like their music, but other than a handful of songs I adore (Pet Semetary, Somebody Put Something in My Drink, I Just Want to Have Something to Do, Do You Remember Rock 'N' Roll Radio? and their cover of Chinese Rock), a lot about the Ramones always defied my interest. Now I know why, thanks to an observation Joe Bob made while introducing the film.
"I know people called the Ramones punks, but their music always sounded... wholesome to me."
Yep. That's it exactly! I came into punk by way of Black Flag and the Misfits, so Ramones' music always felt less than dangerous comparatively. Now I see the error of my thinking - the Ramones are basically the Beach Boys with leather jackets and electric guitars. Locking that context into place, suddenly I've had them playing around the clock since.
The third film - first of the day - was Padraic McKinley's feature film debut The Weight. I knew nothing about this one going in. I had not even seen a trailer. From the blurb on The Belcourt's website: "A more-than-worthy addition to the WAGES OF FEAR / SORCERER canon of precious cargo and precarious conditions..."
That blurb says it all. Not quite the staggering account of persistence and madness that Sorcerer is, The Weight definitely carries some of Friedkin's masterpiece's DNA, while 100% being its own film. The mechanics of the plot - how the characters arrive in the situation of the film - is a touch undercooked, but it didn't matter. Fantastic performances throughout, and beautiful cinematography by Matteo Cocco propel this film forward with little hesitation.
Playlist:
The Devil's Blood - III: Tabula Rasa or Death and the Seven Pillars
Goatsnake - Black Age Blues
Holy Fawn - Dimensional Bleed
Ramones - Rocket to Russia
Ramones - Road to Ruin
Ramones - End of the Century
Marilyn Manson - One Assassination Under God Chapter 2
Genital Shame - Wellness Plan (pre-release singles)
Blut Aus Nord - Ethereal Horizons
Dean Hurley - Anthology Resource Vol. 1: 𝝙𝝙
Blood Mother - The Night Fires (single)
• V: The Hierophant
• VIII: The Strength
It takes a lot of strength to realize you are the cause of your own disaster - Wow! I like that I am once again getting readings that actually reflect on the predicaments for my characters in Shadow Play 2, but is it Richard or Arthur who are causing their own issues?
