Women are badasses. Pure, unapologetic, and relentless badasses. Men may try to run the world, but it’s only to win the women that rule it. At least, that’s what women want us to think.

Ellen Ripley. Sarah Connor. Clarice Starling. Buffy Summers. Jackie Brown. River Tam. Billie Jean Davey. Catherine Tramell. Catwoman. Trinity. Leia Organa. The Bride. Barbarella. Nikita. Private Vasquez. Erin Brockovich. Senator Laine Hanson. Wilma McClatchie. Mrs. Robinson. Queen Elizabeth (as played by Cate Blanchett). Coffy. Norma Rae. Juno MacGuff. Carolina (as played by Salma “I create car accidents wherever I walk” Hayek). Selene (as played by Kate Beckinsale). Chris Parker (as played by Elisabeth “don’t f–k with the Babysitter” Shue). Satanico Pandemonium. Xenia Onatopp. Lt. Uhura. Mallory Knox. Effie Melody. Lily Dillon. Myra Langtry. Dian Fossey. Bonnie Parker. Charlie’s Angels (Drew Barrymore, Lucy Liu, Cameron Diaz). The witches living in Eastwick. G.I. Jane. Thelma. Louise. Annie Savoy. Alex Forrest. Miss Daisy. Suzanne Stone Maretto. Miranda Priestley. Annie Wilkes. Sidney Bristow. Veronica Mars. LeeLoo ‘Moolti-pass.’ Mrs. Smith (without the Mister). Michelle Yeoh (in anything). Debbie Allen. Wendy O. Williams. And Miss Piggy.

(Definitely not Laura Dern in JURASSIC PARK. She almost destroys the whole concept – as you can witness below. But I digress…..)

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These are badasses who live on their own terms, and make the rest of us work harder to meet their standards. Who cares if they’re women? In fact, who cares if they’re men? A badass doesn’t care what you think. A badass just lives the life of a badass – it’s a lifestyle choice and lifelong attitude that is nongender specific, nondiscriminatory, and nonsense if you feel otherwise.

So with that in mind–

–thinking in those badass terms–

–my question to all who read this……

….is Lady GaGa a badass?

Stop laughing.
Don’t shake your head.
Put your middle fingers away. And hear me out.

I’ve heard of her. Never can recall listening to her. She’s certainly stirring up the public’s imagination and keeping TMZ busy with her outrageous… everything.

But is she a badass?

Based on this newest video of hers… and keeping in mind my definition of a ‘badass’…

I’m leaning towards yes.
Some of you may lean towards no.
Watch the video (NSFW) and decide.

Leave comments of thrilled engagement or head-shaking ‘whatever’ down below…

Just ’cause… well… goddamn… tomorrow please… please come out tomorrow… Read the rest of this entry »

How are you going to remember Corey Haim? As the tragically (and ironically) less-fortunate of the Two Coreys? As a forgotten actor who was unable to defeat his addictions and gave his life to indulge them?

Come on, we’re better people than that. I can think of at least three reaons why we should keep him fondly in mind.

LUCAS. SILVER BULLET. THE LOST BOYS.

Others may remember him for others… but these are the the three that poke my memory the most. And expletive-upon-expletive… how can I communicate the impact that THE LOST BOYS had on me…. click on this:

Just guess how many times my sister and I quote this damn song…

So please forgive my lack of flair for editing. My brother’s the editor in the family, not me. I can name three friends off the top of my head who are better editors than I. But somewhere, some idiot penned a legendary Hallmark card that said ‘it’s the thought that counts,’ and I bought into that policy like Sarah Palin buys Canadian Health Care.

So here’s what I could do in the span of an all-nighter. It’s not everything he did… it’s just my top three… and it’s the ones I’m gonna remember him for.

Thanks Corey, for making my 80’s a bit more ‘eighties.’

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I admitted that I don’t watch LOST… and that I’m a poor human being for it.

However… I consumed BATTLESTAR GALACTICA. And I’m a better human being for it. At least way better than anyone else who didn’t watch it. Or maybe I’m just unspeakably cool. Probably only lucked into one of the best series of all time… but still… it was a terrificly badass show that I miss.

Through a friend of a friend, I got sent this embed for a badass GALACTICA montage set to the Beastie Boys.

Freakin’ A. Pumps you up. Check it out.

I had the following conversation with my parents:

Mom… Dad… please, sit down… there’s something I have to tell you…no, Dad, you don’t need a cigarette.  Mom… yes, you need a drink.

The last few years have been a whirlwind… and in that time, many things have happened to me that I’m not so proud of… no seriously, Dad, no cigarettes.  Go get Mom a shot though…

(Dad comes back with two shots of Maker’s Mark.  Mom shoots ‘em both like she’s saying ‘what else ya got?’)

So anyway… here goes… I hope you still love me…

I haven’t been watching LOST.  Not since the second season. Read the rest of this entry »

Lost Art of Filmmaking represents my attempt to highlight examples of film language that no longer seems to appear on the radar of a majority of working filmmakers.

Each column, I’ll choose a clip from a movie that demonstrates a ‘lost art’ of some sort, ask you to watch it, and then go into detail about why this particular slice of movie is worth bringing back into focus…

This is what I’m talking about.  This is what the LAOF series is all about.

OK Go is a band that became famous for its’ viral video “Here We Go Again.”  That video was genius in its’ simplicity.  Choreography on treadmills.  If you need a reminder… take a look.

Here It Goes Again – OK Go Treadmill Video

Simple, right?  I would’ve embedded it, but couldn’t find a clean version for y’all.

Now, they’ve come up with another one. Read the rest of this entry »

THAT WAS THEN…

…THIS IS NOW.

What a difference a decade makes…

A friend of mine who endures the corporate hell of my day job alongside me informed me that his roommate has insomnia.

Through his insomniac lifestyle, he has been able to indulge his love for ‘best of’ montages. Whether or not the value of winning an Academy Award has fallen or risen… I think it’s fair to say that we all enjoy the montage moments, where we look at cinema’s great achievements pertaining to a theme… Read the rest of this entry »

A lot of Viking projects floating around… heard Mel Gibson wants to make a Viking epic with Leonardo DiCaprio doing dialogue in 9th century English and Old Norse.

Now there’s this viking movie here, called VALHALLA RISING.  From the director of a movie called BRONSON (a movie I haven’t seen yet but have heard is pretty damn terrific). Actor Tom Hardy apparently tore the shit out of the character Bronson (a famous British convict known for his violent behavior). Tore it so well that it seems George Miller has cast him as Mad Max in FURY ROAD (Father Time, get your ass-a-moving so this film can be here sooner).

Here’s the official synopsis for VALHALLA RISING (according to CHUD):

One-Eye (Mads Mikkelsen), a mute warrior of supernatural strength, has been held prisoner by the chieftain Barde. Aided by a boy, Are, he kills his captor and together they escape, beginning a journey into the heart of darkness. On their flight from bounty hunters, One-Eye and Are board a Viking vessel, but the ship is soon engulfed by an endless fog that first disintegrates as they sight an unknown land. As the new land reveals its secrets and the Vikings meet a ghastly fate, One-Eye discovers his true self.

Here’s a two minute sneak peak at the movie – with special attention to the kind of violence we can expect. It is brutal. Not kidding. I love it. Be warned.

Thanks to CHUD for bringing it to my attention so I can bring it to yours.

Michael Douglas.  I have missed you.

I have had to endure your semi-retirement since marrying the lovely Zeta-Jones.

I have had to suffer through your buffonish ‘beneath-you’ roles in THE IN-LAWS and GHOSTS OF GIRLFRIENDS PAST and mourn the loss of one of my favorite actors.

If I wanted a Michael Douglas fix, I’ve only had HBO on my side.  They’ve been playing FATAL ATTRACTION and BASIC INSTINCT on repeat lately, and I’ve been tuning in to them each and every time.  HBO – where’s my BLACK RAIN repeats?  Why can’t you put on WONDER BOYS so I can re-visit that goodness?

And then… of course… if  WALL STREET comes on… I cancel my plans.  I stick with the Gekko.  And I get my fix of  ‘Michael Douglas the Badass.”

Then I heard… the Gekko was returning.  Read the rest of this entry »

What kind of flipbooks did you used to draw?

Just the other day, a co-worker and I were reminiscing about when we were young, and how we could keep ourselves entertained without a ton of gadgets.

Like tossing a coin to see who could get closest to the line.  Like bouncing a racquetball against a brick wall and playing ‘homerun.’  Like making those paper fortune tellers that looked like AUDREY 2 to see who you were gonna fall in love with.

Like flipbooks.

Mine were generally idiotic and involved dramatic car crashes or some perverted genitalia adventure or some such stuff.  Whatever I could do during a school day – that was the length of my flipbook passions.

I was such an amateur.  Check out what this teenager did. Read the rest of this entry »