Movie Millisecond: Never knew

From Here To Eternity (Fred Zinneman, 1953).

Isn’t that just the way of it? I assume this will happen to me eventually. Right? Or not. And I die alone. Whatevs.

Dr. King’s Day: Our impasse in the modern world

All of these words are chillingly accurate descriptions of the continued fractured state of the modern social scene, along the entire spectrum from politics to our treatment of one another.

History will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition was not the strident clamor of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people.

Have we not come to such an impasse in the modern world that we must love our enemies — or else? The chain reaction of evil — hate begetting hate, wars producing more wars — must be broken, or else we shall be plunged into the dark abyss of annihilation.

I challenge you not to adore this picture of Dr. King and his awesome wife.

I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality.

I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word.

Jesus Christ, man, we have to help him be right.

Take two Tuesday — It happens: Daily Batman

photographed by Terry Richardson.

Of course.

Daily Batman: Doestoevsky edition

“Much unhappiness has come into the world because of bewilderment and things left unsaid.”

(“Introduction,” Critical Articles. 1895.)

“Batgirl – Oracle” by iamww on the deviantart.

“What is hell? I maintain that it is the suffering of being unable to love.”

(Father Zossima, The Brothers Karamazov. 1880.)

Music and Movie Moment: Mulholland Drive — Rebekah del Rio, “Llorando”

Rebekah Del Rio – Llorando (“Crying” cover, Mulholland Drive)

Mulholland Drive (David Lynch, 2001). This track is a haunting, a capella, Spanish language cover by Rebekah Del Rio of the Roy Orbison song “Crying” (Orbison, Melson 1961). Some screencaps are from here, some are from here, and some are from TK on the lj. Some I took myself from the sneaksters who have managed to put a bit of this up on the youtube. Thanks to all sources.

Yo estaba bien por un tiempo volviendo a sonreír

I was all right for a while I could smile for awhile

Luego anoche te vi; tu mano me tocó y el saludo de tu voz

But I saw you last night, you held my hand so tight as you stopped to say hello

Y hablé muy bien y tú sin saber que he estado Llorando por tu amor, llorando por tu amor

Oh, you wished me well You couldn’t tell that I’ve been Crying over you, crying over you

Luego de tu adiós sentí todo mi dolor Sola y llorando, llorando, llorando.

You said, “So long,” left me standing all alone Alone and crying, crying, crying.

No es fácil de entender que al verte otra vez yo esté llorando.

It’s hard to understand but the touch of your hand Can start me crying.

Yo que pensé que te olvidé pero es verdad, es la verdad que te quiero aun más mucho más que ayer Dime tú que puedo hacer.

I thought that I was over you, but it’s true, oh, so true I love you even more than I did before. But darling, what can I do?

¿No me quieres ya? Y siempre estaré Llorando por tu amor llorando por tu amor

For you don’t love me, and I’ll always be Crying over you crying over you

Tu amor se llevó todo mi corazón Y quedo llorando, llorando, llorando Llorando por tu amor

Yes, now you’re gone, and from this moment on I’ll be crying, crying, crying, Crying over you

Purchase Mulholland Drive, a StudioCanal film, from amazon online or in person at some big, dreadful electronics discount store where they make their employees dress all alike and discourage self-expression while simultaneously crushing their professional ambitions and private dreams, or even someplace mind-numbingly similar but with a wider range of products to assuage your human misery at the altar of merciless soul-raping capitalism, Walmart or Target; whatever, I don’t care. I am just encouraging you to do this consumer bullshit so I don’t get sued. If it were up to me, David Lynch movies would be showing at most theaters everywhere always, so it’s tough for me to recommend virtually profitless small screen shenanigans. And by tough I mean I am going to go chew light bulbs now.

This movie will come up again, these are a really small handful of caps compared to the rest. I’ve just been blue and listening to this song a lot lately.

Daily Batman: Enter Batwoman

Originally named Kathy Kane, the character [Batwoman] was introduced as a love interest for Batman to disprove allegations of homosexuality in response to the backlash from the book Seduction of the Innocent (1954). (the wiki)

Lost the credit but it’s fairly obviously a character sketch from DC.

The modern incarnation of Batwoman, Kate Kane … is written as being of Jewish descent and as a lesbian in an effort by DC editorial staff to diversify its publications and better connect to modern day readership. Batwoman’s sexual orientation has been both criticized and praised by the general public and the character has been described as the highest profile gay character to appear in stories produced by DC Comics.

Batwoman, Kate Kane, with Det. Renee Montoya, now The Question via dance with shadows.

Oh, those crazy redheads.

Daily Batman: Making love in a cape is a dangerous proposition

via Paul Tobin

Bat tat, too.

Music Moment: “Another Believer,” by Rufus Wainwright

I have so much to say about Rufus and his amazing family (except for that bastard Loudon) that there is simply not time today. Instead, I want to focus on the joyful fun of this song, which was written for the soundtrack to Meet the Robinsons (2007).

Rufus Wainwright – Another Believer

It’s been a very, very long time since I kissed anyone, but I suspect it is like riding a bicycle. Not in that you never forget how, but in that you have to go for it or you will tip over and crash. I am not interested in testing that theory just yet, but it is good just to know there is love and romance thriving in the universe.

Hello, I got something to tell you
But it’s crazy, I got something to show you
So give me just one more chance, one more glance
And I will make of you another believer

Guess what?
You got more than you bargained
Ain’t it crazy?
You got more than you paid for
So give me just one more chance, one more glance
One more hand to hold

You’ve been on my mind, though it may seem I’m fooling
Wasting so much time, though it may seem I’m fooling

What are we gonna do?
What are we gonna do about it?

So then, that is all for the moment
Until next time, until then, do not worry
And give me just one more chance, one more glance
And I will make of you, yeah I’m gonna make of you another believer

You’ve been on my mind, though it may seem I’m fooling
Wasting so much time, thought it may seem I’m fooling

What are we gonna do?
What are we gonna do about it?

Hello, I got something to tell you
Hello, I got something to tell you
You’ve been on my mind, wasting so much time.

kisses are a better fate
than wisdom. — E.E. Cummings

The decision to kiss for the first time is the most crucial in any love story. It changes the relationship of two people much more strongly than even the final surrender; because this kiss already has within it that surrender. — Emil Ludwig

Never a lip is curved with pain
That can’t be kissed into smile again. — Bret Harte

A kiss makes the heart young again and wipes out the years. — Rupert Brooke

Ancient lovers believed a kiss would literally unite their souls, because the spirit was said to be carried in one’s breath. — Eve Glicksman

Any man who can drive safely while kissing a pretty girl is simply not giving the kiss the attention it deserves. — Albert Einstein

NSFW November: Shannon Tweed, Playboy’s Miss November 1981

Ladies and gentlemen, Playboy is happy to present the lovely and talented model, small screen actress, and Gene Simmons’ longtime ladyfriend in the Service of Satan, Shannon Tweed – Miss November, 1981.

UPDATE 6/28/11: Want more on Shannon?, swing by her new post on this blog for more photos and nice quotes, Playmate Revisited: Shannon Tweed.

The former Miss Ottawa Valley won Playmate of the Year in ’82 and even lived with Hef for awhile before hooking up with Gene Simmons, KISS lead vocalist and noted tonguing enthusiast. Unlike most Playmate-rock star hookups, the two seem to have found lasting love, which I think pretty much should never be criticized. Tweed has said of their twenty-seven year monogamous relationship, “He opted never to marry. I opted not to bitch about it.” Seems fair enough to me. That lil blonde Canuck cookie is smarter than she looks, eh?

I just think it is really, really cute that there was a time in North America when we hadn’t all seen Shannon Tweed naked yet.

Almost as cute as how the butt-crack is tastefully blurred in these screencaps. Awww. Thanks for preserving the modesty and integrity of the original photoshoot. That was the one thing that would’ve made these pictures absolute smut, you know? Tea and crumpets! Thank goodness for the censor’s loving hand.

I mean, being into high-brow cinema, I’ve naturally seen a few (merely a scant several, at most) of Shannon Tweed’s intellectual and plot-driven films, but I watch them for the snappy dialogue and well-crafted intrigue. Naturally, I look away in shock during the rare, rare, rare scenes of dishevelment.

“Oh, yeah, I do movies; I forgot. They see them on TV. I forget that anybody knows me. ” — Shannon Tweed

Fun fact: my parents and I went to Ms. Tweed’s early silver screen smash hit Hot Dog the Movie! in the theater. (Tagline: “Taste the sauce … in Hot Dog!“) My dad frog-marched me and my mom out of there after less than half an hour. It was the first time I’d ever walked out of a movie, and I found the power of the experience heady. Like, “Hey, put-upon middle manager at the box office, you expected us to stay in that movie, but we totally did not! And we want to see something else, ’cause that thing was crap!”

I looked forward to someday doing something like that myself, but did not find cause to repeat the event on my own until I saw the live-action How the Grinch Stole Christmas. I felt like the absolute king of the universe when I indignantly stalked out of that piece of grotesque, shrill, memory-raping garbage. And as I stood in the lobby deciding what to watch instead, I remembered the feeling of trespass-mixed-with-righteousness that I had when my father hauled us out of Hot Dog. Thanks, Daddy. You are a huge role model.

Before and After “the incident.”*

*There was no incident. Just cheap ’80s plastic surgery. Sick, sad burn.

Because she hella cares about the earth, Shannon Tweed is now made from 85% post-consumer recyclable parts. Did You Know?

Advice: NSFW Drew Barrymore and more and more

Sk8 or die, y’all, and go see Whip It! Adorable Drew Barrymore would like it if you did, because it is her new movie, and she directed it and stuff like that. You do not say “no” to adorable Drew Barrymore. Do not make me laugh!

“I regard myself as bisexual. If you’re with a woman, it is like if you’re exploring your own body, only through someone else.” — Drew Barrymore, Vs magazine, AW09 issue.

Pretty sure that quote is actually all kinds of oversimplifying and in fact insulting to women who are legitimately attracted to other women and not just because hey-we-both-got-boobs-and-like-a-pussycat-I-am-a-pretty-little-narcissist. But you know what? I’m’a let it slide. Because Drew Barrymore said it.

“There are so many pressures that are put upon young women. Whatever we can do to alleviate that and help women feel beautiful about who we are inside, which is the only beauty there truly is, is so nice.” — Drew Barrymore

I swar to gar she is the sweetest thing to ever walk this planet. Not even kidding. Okay, last one for today:

“Let’s get down and dirty. Let’s be a real girl!” –Drew Barrymore.

You. are. the. boss.