LSD…  it’s a helluva drug.  Back in the day, I did my share (and, perhaps, the shares of a few others).  Some believe that it has the potential to help turn you into such a super genius, that you appear freakishly insane to anyone else that’s not “on your level“.  Then again, it’s always possible that the reverse is happening and they really are going so ape-shit crazy, that it only leads them to believe that that they have a growing mental superiority.  One thing’s for sure; these chemical roller-coasters have the ability to twist up and whack out a synapse, like eating a parasitic egg-salad-sandwich from the vending machine of an interstellar truck stop bathroom.  The reality is that, even with all of the epiphanies and life lessons that one may obtain during these odysseys, there is really no scientific control for the experimenter/guinea pig and, short of a clone or view into a parallel dimension, no one can ever really know if they would have arrived at those same conclusions without the “aid” of the hallucinogen.  The good part is, since there is no way to make that determination, it doesn’t really matter and there are more detrimental things in the world than examining the differences between arrogance and confidence, exploitation and opportunity, respect and glorification, inspiration and contrivance, hustling and…well, hustling.  Despite the blatant self-aggrandizement implied in his stage name, Sean “Har Mar Superstar” Tillmann seems to have an incredibly firm grasp on these concepts and plenty of others.  Of all the electric realizations that I had, however, there is one specific principle that truly epitomizes Tillmann’s career for me: “Regardless of how clearly, simply, honestly, or directly you express a pure truth, it doesn’t mean that anyone else will, necessarily, hear, believe, or even understand what you are trying to relate to them.” (more…)

Popularity: 1% [?]

The Cat Piano is an animated short create by, Austrailian studio, Peoples Republic of Animation.  The storyline stems from a poem by, writer/co-creator, Eddie White and is delivered for film narration by, fellow critically acclaimed Aussie/Musician, Nick Cave.  Experience this dark, film-noir  8-minute short about a polymorphic feline on a mission, first hand, and discover why it continues to claim film festival awards world wide.

[WATCH ENTIRE FILM BELOW]

Brief Synopsis (via official site):

In a city of singing cats, a lonely beat poet falls for a beautiful siren. When a mysterious dark figure emerges, kidnapping the town’s singers for his twisted musical plans, the poet must save his muse and put an end to the nefarious tune that threatens to destroy the city.

FIND OUT MORE @ CatPianoFilm.com
The Cat Piano on Facebook
Early Production Art

Popularity: 2% [?]

Remember when there was that huge market for zombie-related films and merchandise?  More and more projects were in the works and it seemed like the hype would never end.  It was a like a zombie attack in itself, the way that each movie, T-shirt, or reference would spawn more of them and breed exponentially.  Of course the time period that I’m referring to is RIGHT NOW.  That’s right, this shit isn’t over yet.  With movies like Zombieland slated for release later this year, I have to wonder if a chainsaw or shotgun would even be enough to slow down this phenomenon.  Zombies have been around forever and I wouldn’t want them to disappear, but I fear that we have approached and are rapidly surpassing “over kill”.  Seriously, am I the only one that feels like we’re beating an undead horse here?

Finally, it appears that a new zombie film will be released, which may actually help keep the genre interesting and which I will actually make an effort to see.  The first thing that caught me about this new mockumentary, I Spit on Your Rave, was the title.  I know, the only thing about the title that would imply “zombie”, at all, is the word that’s been altered to create it (“GRAVE”).  But stick with me a minute; this all comes together.

Here’s the summary/breakdown of the storyline, taken from the official movie site.

It’s 2018 - six years after a virus was released at the 2012 Olympics. Zombies dominate the earth and humankind has been mauled, torn and eaten to extinction.

The problem is there’s not a lot to do now that there are no humans left to rip apart… cue the first post-apocalyptic music festival curated by the undead.

Film4 and Warp Films bring you I Spit On Your Rave, a mockumentary by director Chris Boyle about the first post-apocalypse zombie music festival.

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Popularity: 3% [?]

The first time that I became aware of Sacha Baron Cohen was back in 2000 and it was through a Madonna video.  Baron Cohen, dressed as his alias Ali-G, was driving a limo for the pop-star in the video for her song “Music” and, like everything else that Ms. Ciccone has done through the past 20yrs, I wasn’t even remotely impressed.  The cameo placed him in a Steve Urkel-type role, where-in Sacha tried desperately and unsuccessfully to get into elite clubs with the songstress as she ran through the video fighting crime, acting like a pimp, displaying super human prowess as a DJ beatmaster, and being an all around “superstar”.  It was said that he was a “comic genius” from overseas, but the focus was clearly on helping Madonna continue to appear vital, as usual, and it was a poor representation of what the comedian was capable of.

About 5 years ago, I was sitting alone in a huge farmhouse in Olympia, Wa and smoking a spliff all by myself.  I found one of my roommate’s DVD’s that I had never noticed before.  It was the first season of Da Ali-G Show and I popped it in.  It didn’t take long for me to figure out what all of the hype was about, because that shit was amazing and nothing like what I had expected.  For the next few years I would try to turn others onto the program and hoped that they would share my enthusiasm.  Sometimes I was successful.  Many times, I was not.

I had planned to check out the Ali G movie, Ali G Indahouse, but, after getting poor feedback from a fellow fan, I blew it off.  The very thing that made the HBO program so great was the real life component of the unsuspecting being taken completely off guard.  Once I knew that the film was created as a standard scripted storyline and that those elements that I loved had been removed, I lost interest and figured that I would be better off watching old episodes.  When Borat hit theaters in 2006, I could tell that those elements had returned.  Out of the 3 characters featured on the program, Borat had stood out the most.  I was excited about the prospect, but I didn’t expect the mainstream US public to give a shit about it.  Obviously, that film blew up like a crate of Mentos in an AMC Spirit gas-tank full of Diet Rite.  Whether there was a subconscious elitism that kept me from being part of the herd, the fact that the same people who had stiff armed my recommendation for the original program were now suggesting the film to me, or simply that I slacked and had already been beaten to death with word of mouth, I never even got around to seeing it.  Last week, I was offered a free ticket to see Bruno on it’s opening day release.  This would be an opportunity for me to finally view an Ali G related film with an open mind and a discerning eye, before being overly suffocated with a pillow case full of media hype and bullshit. (more…)

Popularity: 2% [?]

I got a myspace bulletin today that read “*SPOILER ALERT* Repost because I woke up and Im still mad.“  It was sent by California artist Alex Pardee and was an honest expression of his feelings about Michael Bay’s latest  attempt to remake and capitalize off of someone else’s classic film work.  In reading the review, it was immediately clear to me that the style and tone was in the vein on the content which we have tried to provide here on the site.  Filmmaker, Michael Bay, has been a personal issue of mine lately so, it was refreshing to read someone else’s take on the work of the director/producer.  Apart from disaster films (pun intended) like Armageddon , Bay has also been involved with the recent remakes of  The Hitcher, The Amityville Horror, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and the upcoming A Nightmare on Elm Street.  I didn’t have the highest hopes for his version of Friday the 13th but, at the least, I can say that I had more faith in it than Will Smith’s goal to remake Park Chan-wook’s amazing South Korean film Old Boy or the wreckless casting of his son Jaden Smith’s in the a new version of  The Karate Kid.

Alex Pardee, on the other hand, is an artist who’s work I enjoy and do have respect for. I liked his review so much that I actually contacted him today and he gracially agreed to allow us to repost it here on Monster Fresh.  For those who are unaware of Pardee’s work, he is an accomplished illustrator, apparel designer and writer who has been featured heavily in publications such as Juxtapoz and Hi-Fructose.   As his bio state, “Alex Pardee’s unique style is one conceived through watching years of horror movies, writing graffiti, and listening to gangster rap. His work best represents that of a circus sideshow cemetery.“  He has worked on toy series with Kidrobot and Zero Friends, done album art for The Used, Cage, and In Flames, and even has his own “cinematic” clothing line with Hurley called “Night of the Treeple“.  We highly encourage you to check out his plethora of work, buy his wares, and to go out and catch one of his exhibits if you get the chance.  For now, enjoy his review of the new Friday the 13th; I did.

-Dead C
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Popularity: 9% [?]

I got a phone call last week from our writer O.G. asking me if I wanted to kick it and watch some movies.  I needed to take a break from some work I’ve been doing on another site, where I had been constructing a guide to producing the “sexiest” Hotornot.com photos, so I encouraged him to come over.  He had rented two films, one of which was the story of The Germs and punk rock icon Darby Crash entitled, “What We Do is Secret“.  I had been wanting to see the film so I was really excited to finally get the opportunity to cross it off my list.

The film that I watched that day was both captivating and thought provoking.  The story revolved around a group of rebellious young adults that were working to redefine and challenge social boundaries for the benefit of, not only their own, but of future generations as well.  During the unstable political and social climate of the 70’s, their efforts produced a backlash and they were viewed as social terrorists who were corrupting the minds of the youth.  They pushed forward, despite any dangers that they were creating for themselves.  To tell the story, the filmmakers constructed the film in a truly unorthodox format by interspersing revealing, interview-style segments between the riveting  dramatic sequences.  The story continues to build with chaos, violence, and conflict until it ultimately concludes with inevitable death.  Unfortunately, the movie that I am referring to is not “What We Do is Secret” but rather the 1971 pseudo-documentary “Punishment Park“.  Not only is “Punishment Park” the other dvd that was rented that day, but it is also the film that we watched after realizing, only 15 minutes deep, that the “story of The Germs” was next to unwatchable. (more…)

Popularity: 9% [?]