"Enter the Void" from Gaspar Noe

This film sounds very interesting and Gaspar Noe appears to be a director who believes in a submersion into worlds via film. Even better, Enter the Void is set in Tokyo--however distorted the setting may be treated. I am searching for interviews from Noe in which an explanation on why the film is set in Tokyo is given. I have said before that Tokyo will soon be the center of the world--the foremost city on the planet--at least in regards to being coyly hedonistic and gorgeously amusing. Tokyo is a place to experience something new and truly original: as in apart of yourself, even.  I can't wait to see this film and only hope it isn't overly edited before its U.S. release: eveidently thru IFCfilm.
Gaspar Noe and Enter the Void on Viceland HERE
Enter the Void review HERE
Gaspar Noe Wiki-info HERE

Nissan commercials in Japan

These commercials for the Nissan "Note" vehicle feature Heidi. The Japanese is over my head, but what is more interesting is the animation itself. Take a look at some of the other commercials too--featuring cloud flight, green monsters, and lots of childish yelling.There is history behind the music used in the ad and you can read more about that on The Hopeless Romantic. Its seems as if 90's dance music made quite the impact on the Japanese psyche.
Source: The Hopeless Romantic HERE

Michael Jackson at Tokyo Disney Land

Michael Jackson is more popular after death than during the last decade of his life. Case in point: Captain EO 3-D adventure in Tokyo Disney Land. It was an attraction running from 1987 to 1996! You can read more about the film--directed by Francis Ford Coppola and produced by George Lucas!! Whoa!--HERE. The Captain EO attraction is reopened at the Tokyo amusement park as demand for anything connected to the fallen pop star is soaring. It has been reported that Jackson's estate has made $1 Billion since his death. Watch the video below to see a snippet from the film attraction--so richly odd.
Source: Japan Probe

Siouxsie and the Banshees-"Arabian Knights"

I love this video for the "sword fight" montage about halfway thru. This is early '80's video at its best.

"Loved" by Alexander Ocias

 Alexander Ocias' Loved is a game but it is also art. Well, I am sure that many would argue that all video games are forms of art. It is true that many hours and creative manpower go into making games for Xbox, Wii, Play Station, and the rest of the gaming systems one might interact with. However, Loved is simplified in the graphic front, yet it's infuriating and makes you think. I spent about an hour playing, and have just missed finishing the game. It's not so easy. I'm not usually a "gamer" by any means which may contribute to the fact that I haven't made it to the end just yet. Still, I am weirdly connected to the "mind" or "being" behind the scenes, urging you to continue on. If Loved is a game about love, it's a love that is slightly twisted. Ocias calls his game a form of short story--there are quick sentences to read as the game moves forward. What is left unsaid and how you interact with the game is what is most intriguing. Play it HERE. Ocias is a graphic artist and on his website you can experience more of his work. The pic and source came from Matt Bell's blog HERE.

Helen Thomas in Vice Magazine

 Vice Magazine has posted an interview with Helen Thomas online--an interview that will also be published in the next issue of the magazine, but hurried to the web due to the fire-storm created recently in regards to Thomas' remarks on Israeli/Palestine relations.  This is a very insightful interview with a news veteran. It is an interview--coupled with Thomas' now famous remarks--that underscores just how afraid the public and the media are to share opinions that may be contrary to positions assumed to be held by the majority--even afraid to ASK questions (a reason Thomas gives as to how the nation was carried to war after 9-11). What is wrong with "rocking the boat?" Helen Thomas has recently done so--and no matter if you agree with her opinions or not--hopefully her openness will serve as inspiration to others to at least look at issues from all sides.
Read the interview HERE.  
Pic from Vice Magazine: by Richard Kern

20 Years of Seinfeld

It has been 20 years since Seinfeld first aired on May 31, 1990. It's beloved by me and millions--you too, I'm sure--and reminds me of a time when folks really did watch NBC. The staff at PASTE magazine have put together 20 great moments from the show including this nugget--FESTIVUS FOR THE REST OF US!! Check out the Iconic Ensemble from Seinfeld HERE. Thanks Paste.

Emeralds "Candy Shoppe"

Emeralds is a band that can be classified as "Hypnagogic Pop." The term stems from a Wired article wherein this ambient sound is discussed. It's like hazily remembering all the 1980's sounds--somewhere in your subconcious--Korg keyboards, et al. You can read more about this style of music and the ideas behind its conception HERE. This is a video featuring the song "Candy Shoppe" by Emeralds--from Cleveland, Ohio. The video features some vintage track&field imagery.

Food Party on IFC

Food Party is the biggest trip I've seen in a while. Thu Tran is hilarious--a talented artist too. Tuesdays are now a time for indulgence and escape 10pm on IFC. Thu gets into misadventures while preparing interestingly disgusting yet weirdly appetizing dishes--a la Martha Stewart and Pee Wee. Gotta Watch It!

Mitch Griffiths: "The Promised Land"

Mitch Griffiths has a new exhibit entitled "The Promised Land" at Halcyon Gallery in London. His work deals with the force of consumerism in today's society and, in broader sense, the construction of identity in a globalized world: including imperialistic ideology and the idea that anything is possible.
Read a great interview with Griffiths on Dazed digital. 

Excerpt from the Dazed interview: 
Mitch Griffiths: "Mass media tells us we can achieve anything we want. There is a flaw in this concept: if anyone can make it then the ones that do are less respected and more resented. The thinking isn't "I can" but "Why not me?" our belief isn't in our abilities but in the right to be given what we want." 

The image is by Griffiths from Dazed digital. The video is from Halcyon Gallery website.

Mitch Griffiths, The Promised Land. from Halcyon Gallery on Vimeo.

Super Gaijin: funny video

So I am a bit of a Japanophile and while cruising some blogs I came across this jewel of a video. I think they guy portraying "Super Gaijin" is an actor or model (the video below is a commercial for shirt brand Nara Camicie--but funny too). "Gaijin" means foreigner in Japanese. The video is satire on the way some visitors and expats in Japan act--sticking out like a sour thumb sometimes, and trying to make Japan and Japanese more like them instead of the other way around (no acculturation).The English lyrics are below the video. Stupid Funny. Maybe you have to have lived there to appreciate...

Everybody in Japan, don't worry
It's O.K., because I'm a Gaijin
From now on, I'll save you
I'm a Gaijin ... cool
I don't understand Japanese
I want to speak English
From now on, I'll teach you
I'm a Gaijin ... cool
I've been all over Japan
Everybody says they like me
But I don't pay attention
I don't really like nato
I'm strong because I'm a Gaijin
Japanese people are delicious rice snacks
Super Gaijin is right here
In Japan ... Tochigi prefecture is famous
me, me, me
Gaijin, Gaijin, Gaijin
save, save, save you
super, super, super cool
I came from abroad
I'm a gaijin, nice to meet 'ya
I like samurai
I like bonsai plants
before I came to Japan, I watched manga
I thought that was cool
And so I came to Japan
I'm a Gaijin, nice to meet 'ya
Everyday, everyday I enjoy Japan
Everywhere I hear, "Save me!"
If that's the case,
Look! Here is a Gaijin
Don't worry, I'm here
Don't worry, Gaijin's skills
are numerous, so I can't lose
Japanese people and Gaijin ... fly!
me, me, me
Gaijin, Gaijin, Gaijin
save, save, save you
super, super, super cool

M.I.A. Born Free

M.I.A. has released a new video for "Born Free" off of her upcoming release. I've taken to posting a lot of music videos here recently and this clip is an example as to why: music videos, when done correctly, can be gripping and deliver powerful messages--putting glitz and glamor aside sometimes--in addition to being aesthetically pleasing. This video, directed by Romain Gavras is no acception. As Boing Boing put it, the video portrays a "global ginger jihad."

Massive Attack "Paradise Circus"

Massive Attack has a new album coming in May. Below is yet another brilliantly beautiful and haunting video, taken from the album HELIGOLAND, this is "Paradise Circus"

Roy Orbison "A Love So Beautiful"

Erykah Badu: "Window Seat"

UPDATE: 4/3/10: The video is available on Youtube again. If they take it down once more, the link is below to Badu's website...

You have to visit Badu's website in order to see this video (it has been taken down from youtube by UMG). She strips down to nothing in public for the video filmed guerrilla style in Dallas. At the end, she is "shot" by the site of JFK's assassination.

I think that Badu's video says something about an artist's ability to evolve from their previous works without having to feel confined by those works. Individual's too should feel liberated from the "self" they have built and should pursue evolving and newly negotiated identities in effort to learn more about the world we live in. By stripping herself naked in public, Badu forces those around her to take notice, thereby challenging her own identity and the identities of her spectators.


This is a link to some commentary on the video from NPR. Like the commentator, I too would like to see more videos like this coming from artists that are closer to the mainstream.