by Erin Nicole
Yesterday was Texas Independence Day and the armadillo is one of our state’s unofficial mascots. I’ve taken better pictures but armadillos are shy and this is the best one I’ve ever been able to get of one of them. As soon as I snapped this picture, he disappeared into the nearby bushes.
This is an enjoyably atmospheric music video. It makes me want to read a paperback epic about intrigue in a royal court.
Enjoy!
I wanna burn in the fire below
I wanna dance with the devil you know
take me to heaven and don’t let me go
I am the king of a tragedy
Waking up to hear the siren
you’re the poison in my blood
I could do without the violence
god knows I’m not that tough
I keep loosing all my virtues ’
i’m a magnet to your pain
Waking up to hear the siren
I wanna burn in the fire below
I wanna dance with the devil you know
take me to heaven and don’t let me go
I am the king of a tragedy
king of a tragedy
I wanna surrender and sacrifice
the fear that I feel when I look in your eyes
Please take me to heaven before I die
I am the king of a tragedy
king of a tragedy
Every word you say is fragile
It’s like a walk on broken glass
I’m like a deer, so scared of your headlights
you got your right foot hard on the gas
can we stay right here forever
you make it hard to run away
Every word you say is fragile
I wanna burn in the fire below
I wanna dance with the devil you know
Take me to heaven and don’t let me go
I am the king of a tragedy
king of a tragedy
I wanna surrender and sacrifice
the fear that I feel when I look in your eyes
Please take me to heaven before I die
I am the king of a tragedy
king of a tragedy
ooohh I wanna see what it feels like
to run into your headlights
oooh you know me I’m craving the spotlight
I wanna burn in the fire below
I wanna dance with the devil you know
Take me to heaven and don’t let me go
I am the king of a tragedy
king of a tragedy
I wanna burn in the fire below
I wanna dance with the devil you know
Take me to heaven and don’t let me go
I am the king of a tragedy
king of a tragedy
I wanna surrender and sacrifice
the fear that I feel when I look in your eyes
Please take me to heaven before I die
I am the king of a tragedy
king of a tragedy
Lawrence Phillips could have been one of the greatest professional football running backs of all time but he couldn’t outrun his demons.
Phillips was a great high school and college player. He led the University of Nebraska to victory in the 1995 Orange Bowl and the 1996 Fiesta Bowl. But even when he was playing under the legendary coach Tom Osborne at Nebraska, there were signs of the issues that would eventually end his professional career. In 1995, he was arrested for breaking into an apartment, grabbing his ex-girlfriend, dragging her down three flights of stairs by her hair and then smashing her head into a mailbox. At first, he was suspended from playing football but he was eventually reinstated by Coach Osborne. At the time, Osborne said that football was perhaps the only thing in Phillips’s life that could keep him on track.
The assault may have kept Phillips from winning the Heisman Trophy that he had been widely considered a favorite to receive but it didn’t keep him out of the NFL. In the 1996 Draft, the Rams selected him as the 6th overall pick. Phillips proved himself to be a talented running back but his life off the field continued to be erratic. When he showed up drunk for a pre-game practice, Phillips was cut from the team.
Phillips went to Miami, where he played two games for the Dolphins before he was arrested and charged with assaulting a woman in a nightclub. Again cut from the team, Phillips eventually ended up in NFL Europe, where he set records and proved that he could still play. Returning to America in 1999, Phillips was signed by the 49ers but he was cut after refusing to practice and missing a block that led to quarterback Steve Young suffering a season (and career) ending concussion.
With no future in the NFL, Phillips signed with the Arena Football League but was cut when he failed to show up for practice. He then went to Canada, where he had one good season with Montreal Alouettes before again getting cut after being charged with a sexual assault. The last team he played for was the Calgary Stampede. He was cut for arguing with the coach.
Phillips was 30 years old and washed up as an athlete. After his then-girlfriend tried to break-up with him, he grab her by the throat and nearly strangled her. A few days later, while driving around Los Angeles, he spotted three teenagers playing a pick-up football game. He joined their game but, after he became convinced one of them had stolen some money from him, Phillips ran the teen over with his car. Convicted of both domestic abuse and attempted murder, Phillips was sentenced to a total of 31 years in prison.
In prison, he originally kept his head down, refused to join any of the prison gangs, and stayed out of trouble. But, in 2015, Phillips’s cellmate was found strangled to death in their cell. Phillips claimed that he had accidentally killed him in self-defense. Charged with murder and facing the death penalty, Lawrence Phillips was found hanging in his cell. The official ruling was suicide.
What happened to Lawrence Phillips? How did he go from being one of the best players in the game to being an inmate in the California penal system? That’s the question that’s considered by the documentary, Running For His Life. Featuring interviews with his friends, coaches, teammates, and one of his victims, Running For His Life follows Phillips from his abusive childhood to his final days in prison. Almost everyone who is interviewed describes Phillips as being outwardly intelligent, friendly, and talented, except for when he was angry. That was when the other Lawrence would come out. Most of the people interviewed still seem to be shocked that Phillips’s life derailed the way that it did. Tom Osborne comes across as being particularly troubled that he wasn’t able to do more to help Phillips overcome his demons. The majority of the people interviewed say that Phillips’s problems were the result of growing up in group homes and spending his childhood being abused by the people who were supposed to be looking out for him.
It’s a compelling argument but Running For His Life could have used a greater variety of voices. Almost everyone who is interviewed was a friend of Phillips’s and, even though they acknowledge his crimes, it still seems that they are sometimes too quick to make excuses for him. Many of the women who he victimized were not interviewed and, as a result, the documentary feels incomplete. His victims deserved more than just a cursory mention. It may be a tragedy that Lawrence Phillips never lived up to his potential but the far greater tragedy is that so many people were hurt by his actions.
After two blissfully Rand-free episodes of Pam & Tommy, Rand Gauthier (Seth Rogen) returned to dominate this week’s episode. As soon as things opened with a close-up of Rand looking like someone had just run over his favorite pet, I groaned very loudly. Rand is such an unlikable character and the show insists on trying to make us feel sorry for this loser. Even if Seth Rogen wasn’t both miscast and intent on giving the worst performance of his career in the role, Rand would make Pam & Tommy difficult to watch.
Rand (or Reed or whatever his name is supposed to be) was basically upset because he wasn’t making any money off of the Pam and Tommy sex tape. Instead, the bootleggers were making all the money. Rand/Reed also got upset because cocaine addict Uncle Miltie (Nick Offerman) turned out to be a bad business partner. Meanwhile, Butchie (Andrew “Dice” Clay, acting up a storm with little to show for it) wanted his money and demanded that Reed/Rand turn into a debt collector. “I AM THE DESTROYER OF WORLDS!” a frustrated Rand declared as he collected a debt and seriously, what the heck? (Folks, I gave up cursing for Lent. Just go with me here.) The episode’s best moment was when Rand tried to blackmail Tommy and Tommy reacted by setting the money on fire while Randy Reed watched. What made this scene so great was that Tommy called Reedy Rand a loser. Again, I got the feeling that we were supposed to feel bad for Rand but …. eh. Who cares? Rand is a loser and the mullet isn’t making him look any better.
If the highlight of the episode was Tommy setting that money on fire while taunting Rand, the show’s second best moment was Pam appearing on The Tonight Show and having to deal with a series of disrespectful and infuriatingly sexist questions from Jay Leno. The actor playing Leno essentially played him as being the devil, which was kind of amusing. Watching the scenes with Leno acting like a member of the Spanish Inquisition, I found myself thinking about how Ken Russell probably could have done something amazing with this material. The scene ended with Pam having to talk Tommy out of beating up Jay Leno, which again was kind of amusing. Just imagine if Tommy had stormed onto the Tonight Show set and thrown a punch while Jay was introducing Hugh Grant. That would have been classic television.
As the Tonight Show debacle indicated, the release of Barb Wire was overshadowed by Pam and Tommy’s court case against Penthouse. The judge ruled that the 1st Amendment gave Penthouse the right to publish still from the tape. Tommy was too stupid to realize that the judge had ruled against him. Pam responded with a monologue about how the judge was actually saying that it was okay to exploit her because she wore a swimsuit on Baywatch and she also previously appeared in Playboy. Pam had a point but, as so often happens on this show, that point was somewhat negated by the fact that the real-life Pamela Anderson never signed off on having her life dramatized in Pam & Tommy and, as a result, the show is itself a bit exploitive.
The show also continues to feel a bit pointless, despite Lily James’s frequently excellent performance as Pam. Again, it’s hard not to wonder why exactly this story demands the limited series treatment as opposed to the 90-minute movie treatment. Indeed, by stretching thing out over 8 hours, Pam & Tommy just reminds us of how superficial this story really is.
One final note: early on in the episode, Butchie is shocked to discover that there’s a new coffee company in Seattle that’s called Starbucks. I’ve noticed this is a joke that’s popped up in a lot of movies about the 90s and it feels rather lazy. They should have made an AOL joke instead.
It’s March! March is the 3rd month of the year and it’s always been a favorite of mine, just because it has one of the best names of any month. March! It sounds so decisive and forward-looking. Who doesn’t love that?
Here’s what I’m looking forward to in March:
Okay, honestly, I don’t know that I’m so much looking forward to The Batman as much as I’m just happy for everyone who I know can’t wait to see this movie tomorrow. I will say that I support anything that brings Paul Dano to the public eye. And I’m happy for Robert Pattinson, though I hope he will continue to also make challenging films like Good Time and Cosmopolis. The Batman seems guaranteed to become the first really big hit of the year. With Pattinson starring in this and Kristen Stewart having a decent chance to win an Oscar, it may be time to seriously reconsider the legacy of Twilight.
Critically, The Batman has been receiving the best reviews of the year so far. If I have any doubts about the film, that’s due to the fact that it’s a 3-hour film and Twitter, which is where I’ve seen the most enthusiasm for The Batman, tends to be an echo chamber when it comes to evaluating the box office potential of comic book films. If I’ve learned anything over the past year, it’s that you really can’t use Film Twitter as a way to gauge how enthusiastic the general public may or may not be for a movie. If The Batman somehow does fail at the box office and we get yet another reboot, I guess they’re going to have to call it “A Batman.” It’s hard not to feel that we’re running out of titles here.
2. The Oscars
The Oscars will finally be handed out on the 27th and, as always, we’ve got a lot planned for that day here at the Shattered Lens. With all the controversy surrounding the show and the decision to do stuff like give out “Fan Favorite” awards, this year seems primed to be an even bigger fiasco than last year’s show. Every “fix” that’s been announced for the show feels like a “threat.” I mean, when you announce that the show is going to be hosted by Amy Schumer and Wanda Sykes, that also makes the promise of “time for more comedy bits” seem rather ominous. (You’ll notice that I didn’t mention Regina Hall because she’s the best and really, she’s the only host the show needs.) The Academy and ABC are so desperate to not go over that three-hour running time that I’m personally rooting for a four-hour show. I want people to ramble on interminably in their speeches. I want technical difficulties to slow things down. I want the ABC execs to freak out as the clock strikes ten and the show is nowhere near being over.
Of course, the only question that really matters is whether the ratings will improve or not. To be honest, I’m kind of hoping the ratings don’t improve because I don’t want the Academy thinking that “Fan Favorite” and less categories is the way to go. My hope is that less than 100,000 people watch and the Oscars move to a streaming platform. Next year, I want to see the Oscars on Peacock, with Mario Lopez and Elizabeth Berkley hosting. Hmmm….maybe I shouldn’t watch this year….
3. A New Season of Survivor
Admittedly, the most recent season of Survivor was weird. Jeff Probts kept trying to be nice and every member of the cast had some big, dramatic story to tell about their life back home. There were a lot of emotional tribal councils. There was a lot of hugging. That’s not what we watch Survivor for. Survivor is not meant to be a show that makes you feel better about humanity. Survivor is supposed to be a show that celebrates betrayal and ruthlessness. Survivor is about great villains, not sob stories. Fortunately, a new season of my second-favorite (after The Amazing Race) reality show is starting in March and I hope it will be a return to the Survivor of old.
4. Deep Water
Finally, this Ben Affleck/Ana de Armas film will be getting its release! Earlier this year, it went from being a theatrical release to a movie that’s going to premiere on Hulu. Some people may think that’s a bad sign but personally, I think that indicates that the film will be enjoyably trashy. We’ll find out this month!
5. A Day To Die
Another Bruce Willis film? This will be Willis’s third film of the year and it’s only March! I’ve made it my goal to watch every Bruce Willis appears in this year. I still haven’t gotten started so I guess I’ll have to do an American Siege/Gasoline Alley/Day to Die marathon sometime this month. My hope is that, at some point this year, we’ll get the Nicolas Cage/Bruce Willis/Frank Grillo collaboration that VOD fans have been waiting for. (For the record, Frank Grillo is in A Day To Die but Nic Cage apparently is not.)
As for A Day to Die, I wonder how many people will accidentally watch it because they think it’s a Die Hard sequel. You have to admire the hustle, that’s all I’m saying.
6. American Song Contest
Wow, that’s a bland title! Anyway, this is America’s version of Eurovision. Singers from all 50 states will be competing and I’m sure our media will not use this as a way to push this whole Blue State vs. Red State narrative that they are so proud of. I’m looking forward to this because I can’t wait to hear how bad the songs are. Vermont’s song will probably be some sort old folkie nonsense and I can’t wait to ridicule it on Twitter. I know that’s kind of a negative way to look at things but fug it. It happens.
7. Lent
I gave up cursing for Lent!
8. After Yang
I’ve heard very good things about this film, which will be premiering this Friday on Showtime. I look forward to seeing it!
What are you looking forward to in March?
Photographer Unknown
The photographer is unknown. The picture was taken many years ago. The day after Mardi Gras, however, never changes.
At some point, in the future, it will be realized that Paul Thomas Anderson’s Haim videos constitute some of the best short films of the decade. It’s the perfect collaboration between a group of artists. This is their latest and video and you better enjoy!
[Verse 1]
Tryin’ to get on top
But it’s never easy
Mastered my own luck
But it wasn’t easy
I’m tryin’ to feel alright
Around all these people
I try, but I’m just numb
This time
[Chorus]
Deepest cut that I can’t feel
Found a grip on the steering wheel
I know a piece’s stuck
You can sit down if you don’t mind me standin’ up (Mind me standin’ up)
I know I was too good to pass (Too good to pass)
So me and you caused a chain reaction (Chain reaction)
I’ll take the smallest crumb
But I’ll never get back what I lost track of
[Verse 2]
Laugh when I’m still cryin’
Yeah, you know the deal
Burn but it’s still fine (Huh)
Yeah, you know the deal
Can’t redeem my love
That’s such a steal
But you can’t say I’m not tryin’
This time
[Chorus]
Deepest cut that I can’t feel
Found a grip on the steering wheel
I know a piece’s stuck
You can sit down if you don’t mind me standin’ up (Mind me standin’ up)
I know I was too good to pass (Too good to pass)
So me and you caused a chain reaction (Chain reaction)
I’ll take the smallest crumb
But I’ll never get back what I lost track of
Oh, I’ll never get back what I lost track of
I’ll never get back what I lost track of
I’ll never get back what I lost track of
[Outro]
I’ll never get back what I lost track
I’ll never get back what I lost track
I’ll never get back what I lost track
I’ll never get back but I’ve lost track
It’s interesting how things work out sometimes. Earlier today, I was having a “conversation” via twitter about the necessity of people who are generally thought of as being “outside” comics coming into our hopefully-happy little medium, making some sort of statement with it via their art for however long a period of time they wish, and then deciding whether or not they want to stick around, or go on to do other things. By my thinking, it’s always good to have a fresh set of eyes approach comics with no preconceived notions of what they “should” or “shouldn’t,” “can” or “can’t” do, if for no other reason than to shake up the sensibilities of those who have very definite ideas in regards to these subjects and others. Words and pictures in juxtaposition can do, be, or express anything, as I think we all know on some level — sometimes it just requires a comics novice, or even a temporary comics tourist, to remind us of that.
Enter the husband-and-wife team of Lily Thu Fierro and Generoso Fierro and their gorgeous, emotive, formally experimental new self-published ‘zine Vessel, a feast for the eyes and mind that weaves together dream, memory, and medicine into a beautiful but frightening quasi-hallucinatory tapestry that references no particular artistic influences outside of itself and doesn’t so much discard the rulebook as remain blissfully unaware of its existence. This is a comic that exists in a category all its own, which is to say : it really can’t — and shouldn’t — be categorized at all.
The division of labor on this obvious labor of love is in no way clear — I couldn’t tell you who drew it, who wrote it, or if they both did some of each — but in a way that makes a kind of thematic and artistic sense, as the demarcations between the “real” and “unreal” in this work are fluid, transitory, amorphous — a thickening cardiovascular wall is a recurring theme that grounds the work in linear time, but beyond that it’s fair to say all bets are off as past, present, and pure imagination dance around each other via a series of lushly-shaded colored pencil illustrations accompanied by a minimalist, economic interior monologue. There is a sense of our narrator/protagonist, Kim, existing apart from, outside, maybe even above her own body, of being both participant and observer of the vaguely-defined research study she’s participating in, and yet she never feels disconnected from either herself or events — there is intimacy in this alienation, and alienation in this intimacy.
As a result, what we have here is a unique approach to the art of the visual narrative, one that isn’t necessarily mysterious by definition, but plenty open to interpretation regardless — my one word of caution would be against trying to assemble this in start-to-finish order of occurrence on first reading and just letting this work take you where you feel it’s taking you. Trust me when I say you won’t be in the least bit confused by it, even while you have a tricky time describing it. As evidenced, I should think, by this review itself, which I’ve gotta admit is a slow-going thing on my end as I try my level best to communicate not so much the particulars of this work, but the sensations engendered by it.
Hell, I’m halfway tempted to ask “how’m I doing at that so far?,” but that would rather defeat the purpose. This is, you see, a comic that takes you places, and the most exciting thing about it is that they’re largely places you haven’t been before, and therefore lack a proper frame of reference for trying to express in purely verbal terms. Initially, I’d be inclined to say that means I’ve met my match here, but I prefer to think of it as having found a work (okay, been sent a work) that has done what very few others have : left me utterly speechless. I’m not sure if I should be grateful for that — but I can tell you in no uncertain terms that I am.
I don’t know much about these creators, other than what I’ve been able to piece together from their website. I take it they host a weekly radio show largely specializing in old-school ska and that Lily has a passing interest in comics, at least according to one of the posts they have up on there. What I do know for certain is this : even if they never make another comic themselves, they’ve given this medium a gift that can probably never be fully repaid.
********************************************************************
Vessel is available for $18 from Austin English’s Domino Books distro at http://dominobooks.org/vessel.html
Check out Lily and Generoso’s website at https://lilyandgeneroso4ever.com/about/
Happy March 1st!
Today is not only the 1st of March. It’s not only Texas Independence Day. It’s not only Zack Snyder’s birthday. It’s not only the day of Texas primaries. It’s not only the day when the State of the Union address is scheduled to be given (yawn!). It’s also Mardi Gras!
What a busy day!
For today’s scene that I love, here is the Mardi Gras/Cemetery sequence from 1969’s Easy Rider. Featuring Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, Karen Black, and Toni Basil walking through the streets of New Orleans, this scene was actually filmed during Mardi Gras. Those are real Mardi Gras floats and real Mardi Gras participants staring at the camera. That’s an actual citizen of New Orleans with whom Dennis Hopper appears to have nearly gotten into a fight. And, in the cemetery scene, that was real acid that Peter Fonda took.
Here is today’s scene. The scene is age-restricted so you’ll actually have to click on “watch on YouTube” to see it.
If you don’t want to click on “watch on YouTube,” here is a shorter version that just features the parade without the admittedly disturbing cemetery stuff.
I like how Toni Basil can’t help but dance, no matter what.
4 Or More Shots From 4 Or More Films is just what it says it is, 4 shots from 4 of our favorite films. As opposed to the reviews and recaps that we usually post, 4 Shots From 4 Films lets the visuals do the talking!
As I already mentioned, today is Zack Snyder’s birthday! It’s taken a while but critics are finally starting to appreciate Zack Snyder. All it took was seeing the Joss Whedon version of Justice League for some viewers to realize that, whether you always agree with his directorial choices or not, Zack Snyder is one of the most consistently interesting filmmakers working today.
Personally, so as not to be a hypocrite about this, I will admit that I’ve been pretty critical of Snyder’s DC films. I make no apologies for that. I’ll continue to make jokes about the excessive destruction of Metropolis and the “Why did you say Martha?” scene. That said, Watchmen was a well-done film that continues to be influential. People are finally starting to admit that Sucker Punch was pretty damn good. Dawn of the Dead is one of the few horror remakes that pay homage to its source material while also establishing a worthwhile identity of its own. And, even if I haven’t worked up the courage to sit through all four hours of it, Zack Snyder’s Justice League has inspired an enthusiasm that I rarely see amongst film fans. “Release the Snyder Cut!” was one of the few twitter campaigns to actually get results. Even the Snyder films that I dislike are unlike any other film. Snyder has a unique artistic vision and that’s what we need more of.
So, in honor of the man’s birthday, here are….
4 Shots From 4 Zack Snyder Films
Dawn of the Dead (2004, dir by Zack Snyder, DP; Matthew F. Leonetti)
Watchmen (2009, dir by Zack Snyder, DP: Larry Fong)
Sucker Punch (2011, dir by Zack Snyder, DP; Larry Fong)
Army of the Dead (2021, dir by Zack Snyder, DP: Zack Snyder)
Through the Shattered Lens 