Film The Best and Worst Movie Deaths of All Time

July 20, 2009 - 3:15 pm

Dumbledore Dies

Death is the true final frontier… in reality, there is no way to avoid it.  We’re all building up to our inevitable death scene at some point in the future.  But in the world of movies, characters can not only skirt death and return after the funeral, they can have one of the coolest and most memorable deaths ever imagined. There is no better scene than a death scene and actors often will take on a role knowing that their character will die on screen.  Sometimes a death scene is Oscar bait and sometimes it’s to get out of doing a sequel.  Harrison Ford famously wanted Han Solo to die in the “final” film in the Star Wars series, but George Lucas refused.  Too bad.  A badass like Han Solo going down would have been memorable indeed.

The Best Five…
Here’s a round up of five of the most gut-wrenching, tear-jerking, awesometacular best movie death scenes…

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Event Featured Cirque Berzerk: Wonderfully Weird, Sinfully Sexy

July 20, 2009 - 3:12 pm

cirque-berzerk-2009-sm-110

It’s time to face facts: clowns are creepy. Of this we are all quite aware, I’m sure. There is something inherently shudder-inducing about the white face, the blood-red smile, the silent, piercing stare. Luckily, some of my LA brethren felt the same way, but instead of banning clowns at birthday parties and slamming the door in the face of little clown children on Halloween, they decided to embrace the sinister side of all things circus. I’m talking, of course, about Cirque Berzerk, LA’s only resident circus, a performance act that’s making creepy cool with seven performances a week through July 26th (August 9th – see comments – DL) at LA’s state historic park. Described as a “circus on acid,” this troupe has found a way to extract the most disturbing—and the most titillating—aspects of typical carnival culture and deliver them to the curious and salivating masses. And despite my (totally rational, thank you very much) aversion to clowns, I found myself among them on opening night. It didn’t hurt that as part of the experience, we were encouraged to get there early, cavort with the carney-couture-clad crew, peruse the wares, and belly up to the outdoor bar. Between breathtaking views of downtown at sunset, winning a few games on the antique pin ball machines and some, er, social lubrication with friendly face-painted folk, I found myself in the mood to take on anything I’d find inside the 1700-person big top tent.

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Music Awol One – Nocturnal MC

July 17, 2009 - 10:05 am

AWOL

To understand the balance behind the gravely voiced raps of L.A. native Awol One, listening to the last line of the MC’s new album with Canadian producer Factor is an ideal starting point. On the closing cut of the new LP Owl Hours called “Sunset Sandwich,” he raps, “It’s Awol / Yo, what’s the word? / I’m the school bully and the school nerd.”

Since coming up through the indie hip-hop scene in the late-90s, first working with the oddball Shape Shifters crew and then producers like Daddy Kev and Fat Jack, Awol with his gruff resonance is a voice to remember but one that has never been easy to define. He’s an MC who can get as reflective as some of the best ‘emo’ rappers yet he can turn around and talk more shit on the mic than a relentless stand up comedian.

Awol One- Celebrate

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Music Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros: “It’s Like a Whole Lotta Hugs”

July 17, 2009 - 10:01 am

kcrw_estmz21

Standing in a small hallway surrounded by the members of Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, I feel for a moment like we’re all skipping down the yellow brick road together (except instead of poppies, we’re in a field of something a little, shall we say, greener). They’re all just so damn happy.
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Music Shout Out Out Out Out: So In!

July 17, 2009 - 9:56 am

Shout Out Out Out Out

I suppose it is not uncommon for a band to be a product of their environment, but Shout Out Out Out Out is certainly a group as rich in paradox and contrast as the 780 area code. Edmonton is about as remote man outpost of a major city as you’ll find anywhere in Canada, yet close to a million people choose to live there. Why would anyone choose to live there? Why would anyone choose to base a band there? Maybe it’s because it takes a band like Shout Out Out Out Out to embrace their surroundings and use these harsh realities as motivation to actually do something, and to realize that if you’re going to try to do something in Edmonton, there is no point in doing it halfway.

Shout Out Out Out Out – Bad Choices

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Film Cheri: Art Nouveau Perfection

July 17, 2009 - 9:51 am

Cheri

There are very few films that I would be totally content to watch on mute. Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette, Terri Gilliam’s Brazil and now, Stephen Frears’ Cheri. I wanted to dissolve into the celluloid and exist surrounded by those blues, greens and golds for eternity. The Art Nouveau luster of this film made the story seem like fluffy whip cream on top of the most spectacularly artful cake imagined.

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Music Faunts

July 17, 2009 - 9:49 am

Faunts - Sleepover

Building on the success of their first two efforts, the fall of 2008 saw the release of Faunts Remixed, featuring reworked tracks from both High Expectations/Low Results and M4 with contributions from artists working at the forefront of the North American electronic music scene: Cadence Weapon, Mark Templeton, Brightest Feathers (aka Saxon Shore), San Serac, and the Paronomasiac (aka Nik Kozub from Shout Out Out Out Out).

And now Faunts, with the new addition of Scott Gallant on bass, have given us Feel.Love.Thinking.Of., an album that is both more ambitious and sprawling in its conception and tighter and more focused in its execution than anything the band has done before. A more vocal, song-oriented album than its predecessors, Feel.Love.Thinking.Of. contains some truly sublime moments: the electronic pulse of the eponymous title track, the bending synths on “It Hurts Me all the Time” that almost evoke the singing saw, the krautrock-y slow burn of “Alarmed/Lights”, the emotive refrain of album closer “Explain”. With Feel.Love.Thinking.Of., Faunts have outgrown any old comparisons and developed into their own entity, and the results couldn’t be better.

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Music Voodeux, Who Do?

July 17, 2009 - 9:49 am

Voodeux

Two years ago, on the East Coast of America, a couple of highly technical production wizards joined forces and created their own genre of strange and creepy techno under the moniker, Voodeux. One from Boston and the other from Philadelphia, Tanner Ross and James Watts first released “The Curse” EP on mothership in 2008 with great success. With DJ support rolling in from everywhere Claude VonStroke soon commissioned them to record a full-length album of this new moody sound.

Voodeux – Just A Spoonful

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Art/Design Gallery Grant Morrison at Meltdown

July 17, 2009 - 9:43 am

Grant Morrison

Meltdown Comics and Collectibles claims to be the largest comics shop on the West Coast. Though I haven’t busted out the measuring tape to personally confirm this, I can say with complete certainty that it’s my favorite. In addition to  thousands of mainstream comic books, an always-impressive array of indie comics and art books, the store is filled with tons of toys. I spend hours here regularly, ogling the extensive menagerie of everything from plush Ugly Dolls to the vinyl art dolls by Camille Rose Garcia to vintage Godzillas and MegaMen. The store’s back room has been turned into a gallery, with special events  along with art openings held here thus continuing the visual wonderland. Recently, Scottish writer and counter-culture guru Grant Morrison made a special appearance – a conversation with legendary author/artist/filmmaker Clive Barker and a signing of his latest: Batman and Robin plus a new hardcover book. You can read about and watch the event on Meltdown’s website,  here.

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Fashion Twirl of the Week: Allison Hourcade

July 15, 2009 - 12:25 pm

allison

The launch of Molly Crabapple’s (http://www.mollycrabapple.com) new graphic novel Scarlett Takes Manhattan at the Slipper Room on New York City’s Lower East Side on Wednesday was so full of fancily-clad people that it was difficult for me to narrow down the top contender for our Twirl Of The Week!

Just when I was beginning to despair, I spotted Allison.  I was immediately taken by her fantastic headband, super high-waisted skirt & great shoes, & knew I had a winner!

Name:
Allison Hourcade, owner of RockLove Jewelry

Age:
24

Location:
NYC

Your style icon:
Some sort of mix between Bettie Page and Joan Jett — my mullet is tucked away!

What inspired your outfit?
Was going for a classy rockabilly Pocahontas look since I was going to a swanky restaurant for dinner after Molly Crabapple’s graphic novel Scarlett Takes Manhattan release party.

Currently obsessed with:
Headwraps — this one was made by a stylist friend Emma from a t-shirt sleeve.

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