Though his most famous films date back to past decades, with “Eraserhead” in 1977 and “Blue Velvet” in 1986, David Lynch has continued to produce art so starkly strange it cannot be ignored, right on into the new millennium.

Lynch has tried his hand at many things–adaptation, television, stage musical. To all of them, he brings a combination of childlike wonder and an almost crushingly cynical sense of the evil that lurks inside every one of us. This decade, he’s only released two films, essentially companion pieces. He’s otherwise occupied his time with performing music, taking photographs, animating, promoting transcendental meditation and reporting the weather. (Click here to read more…)

Considering his penchant for scathing portraits of women, I’m really surprised Lars von Trier didn’t lunge at the opportunity to direct “Precious.” All of his heroines tend to have the standard heart-of-gold complex but tend to remain passive as people begin to take advantage. Rape, hanging, sliced genitals—von Trier’s done it all, continuing to push the envelope—yet every one of his films is nothing short of riveting and artistically brilliant. (Click here to read more…)

Joel and Ethan Coen are two of the most talented and prolific filmmakers working today. In this decade alone, they have made seven feature-length films. The quality of their work varies in large part because they are willing to approach a wide range of challenging genres. They try their hand at film noir in “The Man Who Wasn’t There,” at romance in “Intolerable Cruelty” and the thriller in “No Country for Old Men.”

A new Coen brothers film is always worth seeing, if only because their films are always extremely well made on a technical level. The Coens oversee all aspects of their productions, but they seem cordial enough to allow each of their collaborators to achieve his or her full potential. Their collaboration with cinematographer Roger Deakins has been particularly fruitful, yielding beautiful landmarks in “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” and “The Man Who Wasn’t There.”

There is so much to talk about that instead of discussing general aspects of the Coen brothers’ work, I will focus on three of their films that I particularly enjoy and use those as jumping points for discussion.

O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000) (Click here to read more…)

Fendy sunglass earmuffs. They're so hot right now!

So far I’ve shied away from discussing fashion. I hesitate to grant it its own unique identity or pass it off under the umbrella term, “art.” However, if art is the physical expression of one’s soul and creativity, art it must be.

Fashion has the potential to balance at that perfect intersection between superfluousness (the details that make life a little more thrilling and beautiful) and practicality, making it one of the premier art forms in my opinion.

It’s an expression and commentary that follows you around every day, and that you have the power to change at the drop of a hat-quite literally. I was inspired when I leafed through some old magazines I’ve hoarded during the last year (yes, I’m one of those…if I see a photo that strikes my fancy or a perfume strip that smells particularly lovely, I’ll keep an entire magazine for the express purpose of enjoying these things in future in the form of a collage.) One quotation caught my eye in particular, drawing my attention to the concept of art as a business. (Click here to read more…)

Friends,

I hope this weekend was a good one for you.

If you read my column this week (as people occasionally do), your mind has hopefully been stretched and reformed into a more refined shape. You’re thinking deep thoughts on the nature of art as a product, not as a process (which is absolutely a point of view, not an absolute).

But, you’re starved. You need some steak to cut your philosophical teeth on. And I will deliver.

AARON

Robopoem

Computer-generated Poetry

General intro to Computer fiction

Good overview of Algorithmic Art

“I – drink – your – milkshake!”

To merely call Daniel Plainview a caricature of the dark side of American capitalism would not do Daniel Day-Lewis’ achievement in Paul Thomas Anderson’s “There Will Be Blood” enough justice. Metaphoric purposes aside, Plainview is a man capable of both ends of the human spectrum: quiet introspection and hyperbolic intensity, paternal responsibility and sadistic inhumanity. He adopts and rears a son, H.W., sends him away to a school for the deaf after a terrible accident, and later dismisses him as a “bastard in a basket.” He clashes with a fanatical evangelist, Eli Sunday, and proceeds to humiliate him every which way with verbal invective, physical abuse and, ultimately, a bowling pin. (Click here to read more…)

Peter Jackson made four epic fantasy films that defined the cinematic spectacle for the new decade. His films made the act of viewing a physical activity: His shortest film, “The Fellowship of the Ring” (2001), is three hours long; the extended cut of “The Return of the King” (2004) is over four hours long. Avant-garde films have long used duration to push the boundaries of film, but duration hadn’t really been a part of mainstream films up until this point.

Many viewers—especially those afflicted with smaller bladders—probably viewed the hefty running times as a narcissistic and excessive exercise in filmmaking. But I believe that the running times reflect Jackson’s respect for his audience: He felt that viewers had the patience and intelligence to follow a fantasy series with a large ensemble cast over a three-year period.

Legacy (Click here to read more…)

Sometimes an unexpected collaboration can add up to a refreshing sum greater than its parts. Beyonce and Jay-Z’s “Crazy in Love,” M. Ward and Zooey Deschanel’s She and Him, and John Legend and Andre 3000’s “Green Light” all come to mind.

Then there are the terrible ones. This list is dedicated to the top ten worst musical miscarriages of the last 10 years. Some will make you laugh, some will make you cry, some will make you scratch your head in confusion and some might compel you to punch in your computer screen. Without further ado, let the disastrous duos begin!

10. Weezer feat. Lil Wayne “Can’t Stop Partying”

This song hovers at the bottom rungs of the list because it sounds suspiciously like Weezer and Weezy know exactly just how terrible this is and that they’re secretly laughing along with us. But whether or not it’s so bad it’s good is off the table – it’s really just straight bad. The only idea more ludicrous than Lil Wayne agreeing to guest on this track is the image of the nebbish Rivers Cuomo (the man who wallowed in self-loathing on Weezer’s sophomore album “Pinkerton”) as a big league playa rolling with “the real big posse” to “V.I.P.” with some “Bottles of the Goose” while hot girls are “in the corner getting loose.” Ew, Rivers, ew. (Click here to read more…)

At first is seemed like a bit of a long-shot: a drug and sex-infused musical based on the lives of troubled young adults set to the music of punk group Green Day. But with a talented cast and director Micheal Mayer (the guy behind “Spring Awakening”), and not to mention a slew of Green Day fans ready and waiting to see the show, it only seems natural that Berkeley Rep’s “American Idiot” would be a big-ticket seller. But who knew it would be the third show in the last year (after “The Vibrator Play” and “Wishful Drinking”)that Berkeley Rep has sent to Broadway?

Chatter of the possibility of a Broadway run has been floating about as of late—Berkeley Rep  has already extended the show twice from its original closing date. But only yesterday was it made somewhat official. Playbill News and the LA Times Arts and Culture Blog Culture Monster report that a casting notice has been posted for the show in New York. (Click here to read more…)

I had a memorable encounter with the brilliant screenwriter Charlie Kaufman last fall, at an early screening of his directorial debut, “Synecdoche, New York.” A Kaufman film is guaranteed to provide an exhausting amount of intellectual fodder, and as the film ended, I scribbled furiously in my notebook. Then I took a glance to my right. Across the aisle was the man himself, a hand placed pensively under his chin, as he stared directly into my eyes.

It was without a doubt the most incredible and terrifying moment of my life. In those few seconds, I could see the way Kaufman’s mind worked—he was trying to figure me out (why was I writing?) and piecing together what I thought of his film (what was I writing about?). It is this intensely analytic quality that also characterizes a Kaufman film, and defines it as something formidable, otherworldly and always fascinating. (Click here to read more…)