Giant Robot Store and GR2 News
The Chef
On September 27, Fox World Cinema is releasing two eye-popping imports with hyper-saturated colors, fast-moving edits, and overlapping plots shown from multiple points of view. Both have earned some deserved slamming for trendy style, sloppy narrative, and lack of depth, but don’t they deserve your strained eyeballs, precious time, and individual judgment?
The Butcher
The Butcher, The Chef, and The Swordsman reeks of the short attention span and glossiness one might expect from a director of commercials. But while Wuershan’s look and editing have layers upon layers of gimmickry (shifting film stocks, video game references, rock and hip-hop on the soundtrack…), the characters are as raw as can be. Liu Xiaoye plays the first of the movie’s three namesakes, burping, spitting, suffering permanent bedhead, and lusting after an unattainable hooker (Kitty Zhang from Stephen Chow’s CJ7) exactly as a Mainlander might have been portrayed in Hong Kong movies 15 years ago. The scheming, vengeance-seeking, quick-chopping middle character is played with comparable subtlety by Ando Masanobu (Battle Royale, Kids Return). As for the swordsman played by Ashton Xu, his confidence proves to be a bigger undoing than his colleagues’ inaction. That the protagonists in such a vehicle are so utterly pathetic–and not in an ironic Revenge of the Nerds manner–is actually pretty cool. Shockingly, the three plots stand out from one another despite being intertwined and somewhat complement each other, too. And despite the world being shown as glossy, it’s also bitter and brutal. You can’t polish a turd, but Wuershan packages the shittiness of the world in a deceptively fun and underhandedly smart way in his debut feature.
OFF! at FYF 2011
One of my favorite photographers is Glen E. Friedman. I was lucky enough to meet him at a few book signings and correspond with him when Giant Robot mag ran a series of articles on Asian-American skaters from the Dogtown days. Friedman’s first proper book was called Fuck You Heroes, and it’s a hardcover that all of you should own. It captures his crisp but natural images from crucial points in counterculture from skateboarding to punk rock to rap, and features heavyweights like Alva, Adams, Black Flag, Minor Threat, Bad Brains, Beastie Boys, and Public Enemy. Not only was he there to witness and capture the energy, but he also vocally espouses the P.M.A., veganism, and other worthy beliefs and causes. Yes. So I was stoked when released his next book with outtake and ancillary images called Fuck You Too. I would never compare my skills to Friedman’s, but in that spirit, here are some extra pics from last weekend’s FYF that are too good to let rot on the hard drive (and might earn me points toward another photo pass next year). A little commentary, too.
Steven McDonald of OFF! at FYF
OFF! is an instant hit decades in the making. If you add up the members’ years of experience of playing kick-ass punk rock ‘n’ roll (Black Flag, Circle Jerks, Redd Kross, Rocket From The Crypt, Earthless, Clikatat Ikatowi, 411, Burning Brides…) the total might approach 100 years–and it shows in a good way.
Japandroids at FYF 2011
This pic of Japandroids is a little blown out, but it accurately conveys how hot it was.
Mario, Keith, and Steve at FYF Fest 2011
Another awesome summer, another awesome Fuck Yeah Fest. As promised, a lot of improvements went into this year’s all-day music festival just north of Downtown L.A., including a vastly improved entry system insuring no lines when I arrived around 2:30, way more port-a-potties, and extra food trucks and vendors that didn’t run out of vegetarian dishes as quickly. For me, the biggest upgrade was a photo pass. Yes! I gladly bought a ticket from my local record store months ago, but how could I say no when one was offered? With great power comes great responsibility, though, and I had to alter my show-going strategy and leave before many sets were over in order to catch the first three songs of other sets (when the photographers were allowed to do their thing). It was more of a challenge than a problem–kind of like being faced with a huge buffet of your favorite foods but only being allowed to sample some of them.
Dimitri and Keith going OFF!
On Saturday, I arrived at Los Angeles State Historic Park just in time to catch the end of Ty Segall’s set and jump in the photo pit to see OFF! It was kind of a fitting to start off the day with the local punkers/instant legends, since they were a total highlight of the previous year’s edition. There weren’t many new songs for the all-star band featuring members of Black Flag, Redd Kross, and Rocket From The Crypt to play or stories for Keith to tell, but OFF! never gets old with its ferocious (yet seasoned) riffs and angry (and smart) lyrics. This time around, they were on a larger stage and easily drew a strong crowd–not to mention the largest dust storm of the day. I saw a couple people get dragged out of the crowd with glazed eyes, bloody noses, and various states of dehydration. Every time I see OFF! it feels special (a free show at midnight, a packed in-store, etc.) and this homecoming gig following a bunch of tours was no exception.