mbf tod@y

Why Horror Movies Matter

"Horror, like a person appointed as the keeper of humanity's dirtiest little secrets, remains the most despised and reviled of genres, one that has yet to be accorded even that limited measure of respect sometimes granted to thrillers or science fiction. On the one hand, horror movies are regarded with scorn, like a spotty teenage habit that needs to be outgrown. On the other, they provoke cries of outrage or demands for them to be banned as a corrupting influence, especially when tabloids are looking for a scapegoat or backbenchers are seeking publicity. But to stamp out the genre, as certain self-styled guardians of public morality would no doubt like to do, would be not just impossible, but psychologically dangerous. How else are we supposed to cope with our collective anxieties about terrorism, religious extremism, global warming, the underclass, the overclass, old age, sickness, the credit crunch and (if the wrong party gets elected into the White House next week) the End of Days?" (Anne Billson, The Guardian)

Read more

Do Rock Stars Exists Anymore?

"

Do rock stars exist anymore?
[Liam Gallagher] I'm sure these kids in bands think they're rock stars these days, and I'm sure they are to a certain extent. To me, there's a lot of people making music in bands and there's not so many rock stars around. And I don't know what it is, mate. I think they're trying too fucking hard and it's coming across really fake." (Rolling Stone)

Blame it on Rock Band and Guitar Hero.

Read more

Starbuck Blues: notes on 'optimal scheduling'

"This new "philosophy" is called "Optimal Scheduling," and it requires that "partners" (Starbucks-speak for employees) must dramatically increase their own flexibility. If they'd like to work full time, they must be available to work 70 percent of open store hours. (For a Starbucks open 16 hours a day, as is typical, this means 80.5 hours per week.) Many Starbucks employees say they want to work more hours; the new system could make it possible for those people to work more by downsizing those who can't or don't want to. Starbucks spokeswoman Tara Darrow says optimal scheduling is "a win-win for our customers and partners" that will lead to "more stable scheduling and more satisfied partners." (Liza Featherstone, The Big Money)

Read more (Thanks, John!)

Damien Hirst + The Hours = See The Light

"A short film to accompany The Hours' new single 'See The Light' will be available to view on MySpace.com/TheHours today (October 31). Directed by Tony Kaye and featuring actress Sienna Miller and art direction from Damien Hirst, the video is rumoured to feature some pretty gruesome content." (NME)

Read more (The video is also visible here)

Clash of Civilizations over an Elevator in Piazza Vittorio

"Meanwhile, Italy resembles the land of Moravia and Calvino less and less. Once a fount of emigrants who brought Italian food and ways to America, Argentina, northern Europe and elsewhere, Italy (like Germany and France) increasingly looks like a nation of immigrants, with so-called native Italians exhibiting the usual reactive attitudes and behaviors, from bleeding-heart sympathy to aggressive hostility.  No recent Italian novel so elegantly and directly confronts the “new Italy” as the just-published Clash of Civilizations Over an Elevator in Piazza Vittorio by Amara Lakhous, an Algerian in his late 30s who holds a degree in philosophy from the University of Algiers and another in cultural anthropology from “La Sapienza”, the University of Rome." (Carlin Ro,ano, PopMatters)

Read more

"The life of a hero, I am finding, is hard in more ways than I could have imagined"

Instant classic.

So, Jane, are you going to do write/edit/design that book about new game journalism, or what?

We need it.

More Soon

Pure genius (via Rhizome)

Steven Poole rocks

"But videogames seem more and more to resemble work in a different sense: working for the Man. They hire us for imaginary, meaningless jobs that replicate the structures of real-world employment. And this represents a surprisingly literal fulfilment of the criticism Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer advanced of industrial entertainment more than 60 years ago:

Amusement under late capitalism is the prolongation of work. It is sought after as an escape from the mechanized work process, and to recruit strength in order to be able to cope with it again. But at the same time mechanization has such power over a man’s leisure and happiness, and so profoundly determines the manufacture of amusement goods, that his experiences are inevitably after-images of the work process itself. The ostensible content is merely a faded foreground; what sinks in is the automatic succession of standardized operations. What happens at work, in the factory, or in the office can only be escaped from by approximation to it in one’s leisure time." (Steven Poole)

I am waiting for Trigger Happy 2.0, Steven. I mean, if you are quoting Folco Portinari, you'd better put that in a book as well.

Read more

This is Why The Killers are The Greatest Band of the Decade

"What makes the Killers so charming — and, ultimately, so successful — is that they think they’re a more important band than they are. Their reach is always exceeding their grasp, and their bids for the Big Emotional Moment are both unabashedly naked and irresistibly ham-handed. They’re like a new wave Billy Joel. “I’ve got soul, but I’m not a soldier,” Flowers proudly bellowed at the end of the night. On paper, the sentiment is preposterous. But played at several hundred decibels, with thousands of voices singing it back, it seemed as rich and profound as Stendahl." (J. Edward Keyes, Rolling Stone)

Couldn't agree more. Brandon Flowers is the man.

Read the full article

Michelgondry.com

Link