Writing stories...science fiction stories, but I'll never let you read them...what if you say they're no good?...I couldn't handle that kind of rejection; quoting movies; Going to Barnes and Noble, buying a huge-ass coffee and reading books I want to read but would be a sucker to buy; the human condition; my fellow man; boobies (but not in any perverted way, as I was born and raised a Catholic); hanging out in the BPL (Boston Public Library for all you non-Bostonians) and reading/borrowing good books while basking in the smell of homeless body-odor; skateboarding; playing the drums; talking to Jehova's witnesses on my doorstep; browsing through used book stores; riding my bike and saying 'how ya doin?' to people who don't expect me to say 'how ya doin?' to them; running; stickball; buying 24oz. Nascar Budweisers from 7-11; watching Zombie/B-horror movies at the Hunts while sucking down 24oz. Nascar Budweisers from 7-11; Creature Double-Feature NIGHTS!!!; making movies with my boyz - yo, holla back if you know who you are!; getting 2-slice meal deals at Papa Gino's; bashing wannabe independent filmmakers and writers and artists who make movies just to gain access into some girl's undapants...and, since we're on the topic...writing scripts and making films to gain access into girls' undapants, and, in a more general sense, undapants. Oh, and I guess I can add boobies to this list (but not in any perverted way, as I was born and raised a Catholic).
People who make me lol because I love to lol; John Cassavetes, even though he's dead, because he made great films (go to www.cassavetes.com to learn about them); Vincent Gallo because he called Roger Ebert a "fat pig" at Cannes and that's funny; all three Beastie Boys, sometime before they die, which gives me about two months (oh, I'm just kidding, guyz); girls who have vitalized hair due to the fact that they use shampoo with high Vitamin E content; girls with boobies (but not for any perverted purposes, as I was born and raised a Catholic); Death, so I can ask if there is any reason to fear Him; the woman of my dreams, because I'd be interested to see whether she is anything like how she exists in my head; Johnny Depp, because I have a script for him; Paris Hilton, because I have a script for her (and a crush on her); That's it for celebs. Those two, nobody else. I probably want to get to Depp first, so, of course, if you happen to be - oh, I don't know - let's say...Johnny Depp's agent or - just to throw this out there - Johnny Depp...feel free to add me as a friend. Right now. Please. Oh, and remember to tell me your favorite color so I know it's really you. thanx
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Check out DEATH IN ARMS and PLAN 9 - two great bands I used to play for. DEATH IN ARMS was a female-fronted punk/grunge band and PLAN 9 was a Misfits cover band.
In general, I'm a big fan of all 80s music. Also like Beastie Boys, Billy Joel, Misfits, Cat Stevens, Madonna, Nine Inch Nails, Soundgarden, early-90s gangsta rap/stuff from Death Row, Nirvana - mainly 'Nevermind', Kiss, Guns and Roses, The Unseen, The Devotchkas and a lot of Allston/Brighton gutter punk, Rage Against the Machine, Metallica, Rolling Stones, Neil Diamond, The Beatles SUCK!!!, Peter Gabriel, Stone Temple Pilots, DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince, Run DMC, 80s hip hop like from LL Cool J, Salt N' Pepa and Public Enemy. FYI...I also like to record myself singing "Big Rock Candy Mountain" in a continuous loop for a full 60 minutes of blank tape-time (90 minutes if I can afford it). I then play it back to myself when I try to go to sleep.
I have one word for you: The films of John Cassavetes, master filmmaker, father of independent film and also one of the greatest artists of the twentieth century. (Go visit www.cassavetes.com to learn about the filmmaker. The site is run by the world expert on John Cassavetes: Ray Carney.) Cassavetes is and probably always will be my favorite filmmaker of all time.Also, Dead Man, Blade Runner, Scarface, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and a bunch of films by filmmakers you probably never heard of. Check out Elaine May, Tom Noonan, Su Friedrich, Mark Rappaport, Jay Rosenblatt, Carl Dreyer, Todd Haynes, Vincent Gallo (The Brown Bunny is - and I hate to use this word - AMAZING) and Andrew Bujalski (who made Funny Ha Ha and Mutual Appreciation). If you're sick of paying the multiplexes $10 for the same old Hollywood movie with the same old Hollywood content, check those films/filmmakers out and you'll be blown away. As an aside, I want to say that I like Tarantino and Spielberg because they make what they want to make and are passionate about what they make and, more importantly, are good at making what they make. However, the film industry (and, in the long run, the culture) would be so much more alive if only Hollywood could understand that Spielberg and Tarantino entertainment isn't the only kind of entertainment, that there is other stuff out there that doesn't necessarily come in the form of good stories and thrills and chills, stuff that is just as entertaining and will make just as much money for those who care about the money. Hollywood has to stop being so chicken and try something different. It's going to become extinct if it doesn't, which is ok, but the problem is that it may bring the culture down with it - that's the problem.
As far as documentaries go, two of the best documentary filmmakers out there are Frederick Wiseman and Ross McElwee. Frederick Wiseman's films have very long takes with limited editing and basically no music, which is really interesting because you're forced to really use your mind and interpret the material without the filmmaker spoonfeeding you his own interpretation. Michael Moore and even Errol Morris, to some extent, use music and editing to manipulate the viewer's emotions and, in effect, get the viewer to swallow one definitive interpretation of the material. In Moore's films, for example, Bush or the corporate CEOs or the right-wing republicans come out looking like the bad guys, all the time, which is too simplistic of an outlook. In Wiseman's films, there are no villains, just complex human beings who are both good and bad, who just fall victim to certain human errors and tragedies.
Ross McElwee makes essay films, which are really cool, if you're looking for something different. He basically goes around with his camera shooting his family and friends, and evaluates what he shot through voice over. It's kind of like evaluating the present from the future, making the subjective objective. Anyway, really good stuff, and entertaining too. Check him out if you can. Both McElwee's films and Wiseman's films aren't very easy to get your hands on, though.
One more thing: there's a short documentary by Alain Resnais called "Night and Fog," which is a good film from the French New Wave about the Holocaust. Check that out if you can.
OK, here's some entertaining films I watch when I just wanna rahlax or when I wrap coins:Fletch, Plan 9 from Outer Space (for cheap laughs), Ed Wood (actually, any Tim Burton movie is good, except Planet of the Apes because that's not even a good coin-wrapping movie - maybe while I'm sniffing glue it's ok, but definitely not while wrapping coins...actually, no, I think I'd prefer to watch something else while sniffing glue, but I'll have to ponder this), American Movie, King of Comedy, Airplane, The Naked Gun, Caddyshack, probably a bunch of others; plus...every film that I've made.
Three funniest shows ever: Seinfeld, Mystery Science Theater 3000 and The Simpsons...in that order. I admittedly watch A LOT of E! Television and also all those celebrity shows on VH1. In fact, if I'm watching TV, I'm either watching VH1 or E! Television. OK? You happy now? I'm obsessed with celebrity just like everyone else in this nation.
But tabloid television isn't that bad for you because it is what it appears to be. My least favorite shows are those that disguise themselves as "serious" television, which, as Neil Postman points out in his book "Amusing Ourselves to Death" is a contradiction. Whenever someone has the Evening News (Fox 25) on or Dr. Phil or 20/20, I literally feel sick. Seriously, that stuff offends me so much more than something like porn ever would.
Upskirting (for Advanced Learners) and Babar stories. Oh, Okay...I'll be serious. Here are some favorites: The Death of Ivan Ilyich, Paradise Lost, Dr. Faustus, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (such a great book), most Shakespeare, "The Beast in the Jungle" and "The Lesson of the Master" (by Henry James), Ray Carney's "Cassavetes on Cassavetes," Neil Postman's "Amusing Ourselves to Death," and Eric Schlosser ("Fast Food Nation," "Reefer Madness"); last but not least - the Holy Bible, but only if you read it like you would any other work of literature - it's the truth (not the characters or other figurative devices) that is holy!
John Cassavetes; Jesus Christ, but not the Jesus Christ who's depicted in the Bible, for that man never existed - that man is but a metaphor; Ray Carney, because he, along with Cassavetes, completely changed my life; in short, anybody who is an independent at whatever they do, whether this means running your own pizza-place in today's franchised America or practicing alternative medicine amidst the beastly pharmaceutical industry - it's so hard to be an individual in this country (one that prides itself to be the land of "rugged individualism") and I admire anyone who manages to do it.