TRASH AESTHETICS


Clip of the Week
I've begun writing a very lengthy project. I will still continue to update the blog on a consistent basis, but while I get my bearings for this project, things might slow for just a little bit. In the meantime, enjoy the CLIP OF THE WEEK narrated by none other than one of my hugest, biggest heroes of all time ->->->->->-> JOE FUCKIN' DANTE! His website TRAILERS FROM HELL is a brilliant ever-growing collection of film trailers that are graced with commentaries from Dante's colleagues and friends, John Landis, Mary Lambert, Stuart Gordon, Alan Arkush, Rick Baker, Jon Davison, Jack Hill - and so on. As I've said before, Dante is my favorite film historian of all time. He's a bottomless pit of knowledge which is then augmented by his extensive (from grindhouse trailer editor to major studio director) industry experience. As Reni Santoni says in Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid - "What a guy!"
NEW RATING SYSTEM AT TRASH-AESTHETICS
Howdy Folks,My favorite Television show of all time is M*A*S*H (I'll be posting on it in the near future). Meantime, I'm implementing a new rating system here at Trash-Aesthetics. I won't be using it too much as I mostly review by way of the GONE TO BED SERIES or GIRLS AM/WAS GA GA OVER, and those would all receive the highest rating possible, naturally. But, for other stuff, like films I go see and such - - we've got a new Commanding Officer in camp and here are his dictates:An "OFFICIAL SHERMAN T. POTTER OKEY DOKEY" is the highest rating that can be earned. Not only do you have Col. Potter's respect, but you most certainly have outdone yourself in every way imaginable. This is, to me, praise of the utmost caliber. The item reviewed is purely, and simply, FAN-DAMN-TASTIC!
Film Trailer Fun - Y'all
Aw hell, (he said in his best Nick Nolte) how bout another continuing column here at T and A? We've already got:GONE TO BED SERIESGIRLS I WAS AND AM GA-GA OVERCLIP OF THE WEEKAnd now, we'll do FILM TRAILER FUN Y'ALL. Let's get things started with (a not so "fun" film, in fact my dear Molly cried and on occasion, so have I) this:Private Witt: "This great evil. Where does it come from? How'd it steal into the world? What seed, what root did it grow from? Who's doin' this? Who's killin' us? Robbing us of life and light. Mockin' us with the sight of what we might've known. Does our ruin benefit the earth? Does it help the grass to grow, the sun to shine? Is this darkness in you, too? Have you passed to this night?"Wow, ya know I still get very emotional when I see that trailer. I can watch the film and stay steady, but the trailer is a brutal montage of the film's essence and power - whew. I regard Terrence Malick's The Thin Red Line as the greatest war film ever made. I can't tell you how many people I know hated this film. Well, considering it was released several months after the sheer spectacle of Saving Private Ryan, it's understandable. H
A Word on My Blog and Film Blogs
I debate frequently on whether or not to use this blog as an outlet for my scholarly endeavors. I write a great deal on cinema, but not in a very "accessible" way. The jargon-laced and theory- driven stuff that I write for my profession is meant for, primarily, an "academic" audience. I stumble across a good deal of blogs that analyze cinema with high-brow ambitions, lensed through a "critic" or "cinephile" modality, which is not really what I like to read or what I want to write. My own thoughts on "how" to write when "tastes" dominate discourse and your audience could give a rat's ass about theory, are housed in Stephen King's Danse Macabre, which posesses the "style" and "voice" I'd most like to adopt for my own works. Sometimes I feel like joining in on the debates at some of these blogs, but mostly think better of it and keep quiet. Who would really fucking care what my two cents are anyhow?It just got me thinking, when you do this for a living, the "fun" of intellectual debate is not fun, it's mainly "work."
Clip of the Week
Yup, time for another Clip of the Week. I was, and still am, a major MONKEES fan. I was addicted as a young lad and only appreciate the show on a deeper level now. In fact, I found it to be the premiere example of an early postmodern text for a television criticism course I was teaching over the past year. The students (both semesters) just loved the show. You really just can't beat The Monkees -Apart from that, many of you know of my love for Julie Newmar - this and, of course, her work on Batman were my first exposures to her. Pity the sound isn't better on this clip as "The Girl That I Knew Somewhere" is damn near the very top of my favorite Monkees tunes - a great Nesmeth composition. I managed to snag season 2 of the series, but still need season 1. Enjoy!