Giant Robot Store and GR2 News
No photos. No frills. Not many blogs. But here it goes again. Tonight, a great night to be, was supposed to be a softball game and it turned out to be a horrific wipeout. 0-15. The game lasted about 30 minutes perhaps, and more time was spend warming up than actually holding the bats. The team we played was the greatest we've faced. They've been playing for a while at a high level and got hits at will. In just a bit of time, our season was over. The team we played tonight might not be all that smarter, but they just hit well. Age can actually beat talent, but tonite, a cumulative talent of basehitting firepower beat us.
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My good friend and GR contributor Ben Clark came by GRHQ to have some lunch and set me up with some prints. He's been addicted to the darkroom lately, shooting on film and using fiber paper while he can. (Will it be discontinued?) One of the images was shot at the same P.K. 14 show that's seen in GR65. Similar angle and actions, but richer and deeper with more punk rock energy. Luckily, Yang jumped twice and Ben caught it both times.Ben actually wanted us to run the layouts in B&W, but we went with color… He also brought over a bonus print of Fugazi at the Palace in 1999 (below, left). I didn't know Ben yet, but it's another show I attended. I know because I never missed a Fugazi show in L.A.–except for that first one at the Anti-Club and maybe that one in the desert… Damn, Fugazi was a great live band, never to be missed, and Ben captured the energy well. Other pics in the stack included Unwound, RFTC, too many to count. Go to his site and check out some of his band pics. If you like one, ask him to print it. He's putting a lot of love into his printmaking, and you'll be stoked.
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Scott Pilgrim is going to be excellent and there's a chance that The Expendables will be fun, but this week's movie that might resonate the deepest and longest is Peepli Live. The directorial debut by screenwriter Anusha Rizvi has a powerfully simple premise that escalates out of control: slow-witted and debt-ridden Natha is convinced by his brother to take part in a government program which issues money to the families of farmers who commit suicide. While his decision spirals into a political hot potato and media circus, the unironic, honest storytelling never stoops to cinematic gimmickry or cartoonish parody. A couple weeks ago, I had a conversation with producer Aamir Khan (an award-winning director and actor himself) about Peepli Live that will run in GR67. Here's an unedited excerpt that will hopefully serve as a teaser to the magazine and the movie… GR: How do you feel about branding Peepli LIve as an Aamir Khan production? Although you’re not in the movie, your name is pretty big on the poster. AK: The entire purpose of a poster is to try and get people to see the film, and so the design and the title are important elements in getting people attracted to your film. In this case, the name of my production house is the only name that would interest people outside of India. It’s the film company that made Lagaan, which was nominated for an Academy Award. Within India, of course, people have a better understanding of the work I’ve done, so we tried to emphasize that, too. I’m trying to support the film as much as I can, and I feel that in the case of Peepli Live, while we’re trying to reach out to the traditional audiences for Indian cinema, we’re also trying to reach out to audiences of all cinema and foreign language films. I believe this film has the potential to engage all audiences. GR: Did anyone try to tempt you to go on set for just a few seconds? You know, like how Alfred Hitchcock should show up… AK: No, I don’t think Anusha or I would’ve ever done that. It would be very distracting. GR: I’m sure you were probably on another set somewhere else while a lot of the filming was going on. AK: When this was being shot I was shooting for Three Idiots. GR: Is it hard to compartmentalize your life like that? AK: It is. I’m usually the kind of person who just sinks into one thing and it’s very difficult for me to multitask. When they were shooting Peepli, I was actually entirely into Three Idiots and left it all on Anusha to do Peepli Live. And it was only after Three Idiots released that I turned my entire attention to Peepli. GR: And then she said, “Oh no, he’s back!” AK: Ha ha. “Here he comes. We were happy without him.” GR: Well, she was working with her husband, so she had someone on her side at...
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Phil Lumbang and his dad at the opening. The dad is sporting the Hug Life shirt in bright Red. Created with flickr slideshow from softsea.
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