REPO! (the phantom of) the genetic opera (you dare not mock us)

Oh the pain of the genetic opera. It's so hard to know where to begin.

Let me just start by saying that the use of the word "opera" instead of "musical" is suspect. There really is a lot going on there in choosing that one word. Here in the US people place a lot of stock in "OPERA" as having a somewhat more classic and respected place in the arts than musicals. Even though opera is really just the Italian forefather of musicals. There isn't much of a definitional distinction between the two. It's a common tactic of those who feel the need to justify their own validity (such as the contemporary Goth community) to elevate ideas above others by simply arguing semantic points. "Opera is better than musicals therefore you are required to take us seriously" or "You dare not mock us" may as well be added to the already pretentious title.

OK, wound up on the use of one word is a very minor point so I shouldn't get hung up on it (too late, I know.) I'll move on.

The origin:
It came from a screenplay written by Darren Smith & Terrance Zdunich, two completely out of touch knobs who make some shit music that they somehow have hoodwinked people into regarding as listenable. I'll move on for now and get back to the music later. I watched a few youtube clips of the "MUSICAL" as it was originally performed. After determining that it was in fact real and not a joke, I'd have to say the placement of water boarding on the list of unacceptable tortures employed by our government has just moved down a notch. 20 seconds in I found myself feeling what it must have been like to be stuck in that theater not being able to leave. Interminable. "I'll tell you the location of the rebel base if you just let me sit in the lobby"

The director:
Darren Lynn Bousman. I really don't need to say much, a quick IMDB search will inform you on his broad and dynamic career directing and writing the SAW series of films. Needless to say I don't hold a lot of respect for the man. It's easy to see what's going on here. He has some kind of staying power with the SAW series, because of this the heads can't dismiss him outright. They really want to test his metal by throwing him a turd to see if he can make it float. A turd filled with pure 14th century Gothic lead. Will he be able to turn lead to gold, extract the gold and thus make the turd float? Only time will tell, and that (by the way) is a movie I'd like to see instead of this one.

The cast: (Fuck yeah i've been salivating to get to this one)
Some of you you may be aware that I do not hold a regular job. This fact may lead you to believe that I have enough time on my hands to adequately discuss how bad this cast is. Alas, not even I can afford such luxuries. Check them out for yourself!

• Alexa Vega as Shilo Wallace
• Paul Sorvino as Rotti Largo
• Shawnee Smith as Amber Sweet
• Bill Moseley as Luigi Largo
• Anthony Head as Nathan Wallace / Repo Man
• Sarah Brightman as Blind Mag
• Nivek Ogre as Pavi Largo

Lets just say that the people in this lineup who aren't completely wrong for this type of production are just simply wrong for most productions. Even Ogre can't escape the shit pileup. But really, you could tell he was done with the latest Skinny Puppy album and tour. Hang it up old man. It's only cool when you're strung out.

The plot:
Typical post apocalyptic gobbledygook. Completely unoriginal and contrived. Terrance and Darren need to grow up and realize we're all past this one dimensional pablum. Um, I think reality passed up this storyline in 1997 you asshat's. The plot centers around a company called GeneCo, gimme a break. Really? GeneCo?!?!? how long did that take to come up with? Terrance and Darren, could you please try harder? The 80's are on line 3 and they want their cliche's back.

The music:
It's crap. A bunch of gothic out of tune squaller and "creepy voices" blended with some not so gritty "edgy" guitar treatments (a la NIN, Powerman 5000 Rob Zombie.) YAY!!!! Not enough of this music exists already I'm so glad there will be more!

Oh fuck can I go on? Sure I can but I need to wrap this up.

I can't for the life of me figure out why anybody would think this movie needed to be made. I can only figure that the rising visibility of goth culture and the resurgence of musicals had to have a collision set by destiny. Bad taste and poor execution have never found such a home together as in this film.

All of that inspired by THE TRAILER.

Today I finished a holiday banner design for Drakes Erotica.
Shezam!

I love that I've just designed a non denominational holiday sign for a sex shop collecting children's toys for battered women. LA is a gas sometimes.

We support this government

UNBELIEVABLE
It's amazing to realize that without US support, the Saudi government would be challenged to change. This shit wouldn't happen. But our government gives money and political support to the monarchy in exchange for a military base. They also issue a free pass to keep the neighbors in check as we see fit. It's all passed off as "respecting other cultures." It's funny how lesser atrocities were recently used to justify wiping out Afghanistan and Iraq. I guess if its JUST women who are being subjugated then it's OK with our government. I'm not sorry to say that I'm perfectly fine with disrespecting a culture that could treat it's people so badly.

Taser Parties

I just saw a segment on CNN about "Taser parties". My first thought upon seeing the headline was brain dead frat guys getting blasted and tasing each other. Hopefully with fatal or near fatal results. I got excited. How sad I was to find that it was merely a Tupperware style party for self protection. Oh well. I can only hope some bright young college student gets the same idea and actually puts it into action.

Maybe I could start a web hoax a la Jenkem.

Amy Winehouse

Hhmmmm, where do I begin? oh I got it! Who fuckin cares?

B4 I wake

This is the final weekend to see B4 I Wake. I wrote the score and I did sound design for this ambitious theater production. Tickets are $10.00 and I would suggest getting on this ASAP because theater seating is limited. Here's what people are saying.

"Barry Rowell's surrealistic theatre piece is billed as a retelling of Bram Stoker's Dracula, but the classic novel serves primarily as a springboard for a bizarre collage of sights and sounds. Director Ezra Buzzington and his design team have pulled out all stops to create a visually and aurally arresting spectacle, but the ultimate point remains fuzzy.

Rowell's premise is that the bloodsucking Count Dracula (unseen) has broken the neck of the imprisoned lunatic Renfield (Brad C. Light) - an incident from the novel. From there, Rowell attempts to imagine what might have flashed through Renfield's brain in the seconds before he died. Stoker characters come and go, including Mina (Grace Eboigbe), Jonathan (Ron Morehouse), Dr. Seward (Lisa Clifton), Van Helsing (Marz Richards), Lucy (Elizabeth Liang), and three sisters, played by Gabby Sanalitro, Julia Prud'homme, and a cross-dressing Joel Scher.

Monitors on the side walls display a wide range of strking video images, created by Donna Mathewson - for example, laboratory shots of a beating heart. Cinematographer Nickolas Rossi's periodic filmed sequences show a sea captain (Darrett Sanders) who shouts orders to a crew. The pertinence of these sequences is unclear. Drew Pluta's sound design, including rock music, enhances the creepy ambiance. The lively early scenes bring to mind the cheeky subversion that drives The Rocky Horror Show, but ...b4 I Wake quickly gets down to the business at hand : a stream-of-conciousness fantasy that's largely incaccessible. It's somewhat like Night of the Living Dead by way of James Joyce's Ulysses, an odd mix indeed."

Les Spindle

Backstage West

Read the review in BUZZINE

And from Flavorpill
B4 I Wake is for anyone who ever read Bram Stoker's Dracula and
thought the revered classic lacked a certain something. The dark and
mischievous minds at beloved Hollywood repertory company Theatre of
NOTE have figured out the problem: it wasn't weird enough. Also, it
needed music. Loud, sexy rock music. Writer Barry Rowell and director
Ezra Buzzington bring their collective experiences to bear in this
exuberantly macabre splicing of disparate genres. Think Phantom of the
Paradise crossed with Dark Shadows and maybe a little bit of The
Hunger. Best to bring some garlic, or at least someone to hold your
hand.

Matt Damon named the "sexiest man alive" by People Magazine

Fuck yeah! I was really keeping my fingers crossed for him this year. I know how much this means to him and I'm just glad it went to someone so damn hot!

Clever

So all kidding aside, I'm blogging now. I realise a lot of people take this shit seriously (sorry, "stuff") so I better get down to some hardcore relevant to the day and the life and the time information. I'm broke, I need to work. I need to eat. I need to feed the kitties.

g'eeees

Hold on, I'm taking a crap!

so this is easy living

Management Training...earn while you learn! America's fastest growing Art Company needs high energy Rock 'N Rollers to help us expand our Acton office. Must like money, music and people! $400.00 a week, entry level...even without experience!
Contact: Lynette
(661) 269-1387

Hey this is easy. Why haven't I been blogging since the beginning of time? Why don't I go work at an "Art company" with a bunch of cock smoking "high energy Rock 'N Rollers". Not that I have a problem with cock smokers, I quite enjoy to be smoked on occasion. Just not when I'm working at an Art Company.

The world is truly doomed. I have started blogging.