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‘Arias With a Twist’: Los Angeles homecoming for the outrageous Joey Arias
10.27.2009
06:50 pm
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It used to be—well back in the 1980s at least—that Joey Arias was one of New York’s best-kept secrets. His outrageous drag and cabaret performances—often channeling doomed jazz chanteuse Billie Holiday with uncanny accuracy—made him the talk of the town. Arias became a bit of a Gotham legend with noteworthy appearances with Klaus Nomi (the pair sang back-up for David Bowie on “SNL”) at the annual Wigstock drag festival and with his arch portrayal of Joan Crawford in a staged Christmas spoof of “Mommy Dearest.” Arias also took memorable turns in films like “To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Love Julie Newmar” and “Big Top Pee-wee” as Shim, the half man/half woman. Eventually, even Manhattan got too small to hold Arias’ unique talents and the performer made the move to Las Vegas as the Mistress of Seduction at the adult-themed Cirque du Soleil show, Zumanity.

Now Arias is preparing to make a Los Angeles homecoming—he was raised here and was a founding member of the Groundlings comedy troupe—with an extended run at REDCAT of his new show, “Arias With a Twist.”

The “twist” in question is famed puppeteer Basil Twist (who is also collaborating with Pee-Wee Herman for his comeback shows). A “one person show” with six hidden puppeteers, “Arias With a Twist” seems sure not to disappoint Joey’s admirers. The show begins with Arias being probed by aliens while performing Led Zeppelin’s “Kashmir” before being ejected from their spacecraft and landing in a jungle. Costumes for the show were designed by Thierry Mugler and Chris March. The show, which just completed a run in Stockholm, has been nominated for a 2009 Drama Desk Award for Unique Theatrical Experience.

“Arias With a Twist” runs from Nov. 18 to Dec. 13, Wednesdays through Saturdays at 8:30 p.m., Sundays at 7 p.m.
(Added performance Nov. 24; No performance Nov. 26). Tickets: $35 to $40 [Students $28 to $32]. Call the REDCAT box office for more information (213) 237-2800 or visit www.redcat.org

 
Cross posting this from Brand X

Posted by Richard Metzger
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10.27.2009
06:50 pm
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Gus Van Sant To Tell The Tale Of Theresa Duncan & Jeremy Blake
10.27.2009
03:10 pm
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The twin suicides of Jeremy Blake and Theresa Duncan a few years back was the closing chapter to a story that somehow managed to combine all the darker elements of Hollywood, Scientology and the New York art world:

Duncan and Blake formed a popular couple on the downtown New York and Venice, Calif., art scenes.  She was one of the first video game designers for girls, and his “digital paintings”—kaleidoscopic images shown on plasma screens—established him as a rising star on the circuit.  The couple descended into a paranoid spiral when the artists developed a consuming belief that government and religious organizations were conspiring against them.  She killed herself in 2007.  Blake found her body on the floor of their bedroom, and walked into the Atlantic Ocean a week later, ending his life.

Well, according to today’s Variety, Gus Van Sant and Bret Easton Ellis are now teaming up to give that story, naturally, a screenplay.  For source material, Van Sant (Milk) and Ellis (Less Than Zero) plan on using The Golden Suicides, Vanity Fair’s posthumous profile of Blake and Duncan.

It’s a moving portrait of two people very much in love—as well as a harrowing depiction of how draining and hermetic the pair found the creative process.  That their spiral downward came at a time when they were both poised for greater career success makes their twin suicides as tragic as it is haunting.

For abundant evidence of Duncan’s smarts and style, you can check out her still maintained website: TheWitOfTheStaircase.  Blake is probably best known for his cover art on Beck’s Sea Change, and the “colorful undulations” used during the opening credits of Paul Thomas Anderson’s Punch Drunk Love.

But Blake himself was also a filmmaker.  His Winchester trilogy, inspired by the story of Sarah Winchester and her family’s “Mystery House,” was shown at the San Francisco MOMA in ‘05.  Century 21, the trilogy’s final installment, attempts to “explore the sickness—and the sexiness—of American violence.” 

Thanks to Ubu, you can watch it below:

In Variety: Scribes Make Suicide Pact

In The Guardian: Gus Van Sant and Bret Easton Ellis Join Forces On Film

In Vanity Fair: The Golden Suicides

Posted by Bradley Novicoff
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10.27.2009
03:10 pm
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Marianne Faithfull: Broken English
10.27.2009
02:59 pm
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The greatest music video ever filmed? Perhaps, perhaps. Marianne Faithfull sings. Derek Jarman directs.

Another warning to the youth of today from the regal statesmen of the counterculture.

Aaaand with that I believe that the Dangerous Minds Stones Quota has officially been broken.

Posted by Jason Louv
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10.27.2009
02:59 pm
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Sergej Auto: Horai Flibjck
10.27.2009
02:46 pm
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Can’t find any info on this outside of the fact that it is awesome and full of win.

(Serej Auto’s page)

(Serej Auto found via Swen’s Blog)

Posted by Jason Louv
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10.27.2009
02:46 pm
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Neanderthals ?
10.27.2009
02:33 pm
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From Times Online:

Modern humans and Neanderthals had sex across the species barrier, according to a leading geneticist who is overseeing a project to compare their genomes.

Professor Svante Paabo, director of genetics at the renowned Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, will shortly publish his analysis of the entire Neanderthal genome, using DNA retrieved from fossils. He aims to compare it with the genomes of modern humans and chimpanzees to work out the ancestry of all three species.

Modern humans arrived in Europe from Africa about 40,000 years ago to find Neanderthals already living there. The two species then co-existed for 10,000-12,000 years before Neanderthals died out ?

Posted by Tara McGinley
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10.27.2009
02:33 pm
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One Million Clicks Against Poverty
10.27.2009
02:01 pm
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Pretty neat ad campaign from Amnesty International; there’s a big image of “what global poverty looks like” that it’s going to take a million clicks to unveil. Seems to be steadily progressing. Go carve your gang tag in.

(Amnesty International: 1 Million Clicks Against Poverty)

Posted by Jason Louv
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10.27.2009
02:01 pm
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Photo Blog Dedicated to Awesome Parents
10.27.2009
12:45 pm
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Hysterical blog My Parents Were Awesome says, “Before the fanny packs and Andrea Bocelli concerts, your parents (and grandparents) were once free-wheeling, fashion-forward, and super awesome.”
 
My Parents Were Awesome
 
(via Super Punch)

Posted by Tara McGinley
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10.27.2009
12:45 pm
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Freaky 3-D Anime Girl
10.27.2009
12:07 pm
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Here’s a creepy image of a 3-D anime girl if she were human. I have no other information on how this photo came to be. Just go with it.
 
(via Danny Choo)

Posted by Tara McGinley
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10.27.2009
12:07 pm
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The Amazing Animated Adventures Of Lotte Reiniger
10.27.2009
12:17 am
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Next month, as part of MOMA‘s “To Save And Project” festival devoted to newly restored films, American artist Kara Walker will introduce a new print of Lotte Reiniger‘s magnificent 1926 film, The Adventures of Prince Achmed, the oldest surviving animated feature film on record.

If you’ve never seen Walker’s work up close—and you should—it bears a striking resemblance to that of the German animator.  Born in Berlin in 1899, Reiniger developed an early fascination with silhouette puppetry and the films of

Psychedelic Spiderman: Revolt in the Fifth Dimension
10.26.2009
11:16 pm
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Revolt in the Fifth Dimension is a 1967 episode of the old Spiderman cartoon which was directed by a then 25-year old Ralph Bakshi. For reasons no longer recalled, this was the only episode of the series that NBC chose not to air again, although it lived on in syndication for years afterward. The probable reason they didn’t retransmit this episode is how druggy it seems! (Not that the death theme and flying sperm weren’t enough!) This has to be the most wigged out episode of any cartoon series, ever, or at least until the advent of Adult Swim. I recall every second of it, especially the music.
 
Here’s Revolt in the Fifth Dimension:

 
Part II is here. Dangerous Minds pal Calpernia Addams is also a fan of Revolt. Here she gives it a fun MST3K treatment.

Posted by Richard Metzger
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10.26.2009
11:16 pm
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