the king of pop is dead

(from Variety)
Jackson fans gather to mourn
Hollywood Boulevard, UCLA sites of vigils
By JUSTIN KROLL, ANDREW STEWART

Thursday afternoon and evening, Michael Jackson's fans gathered together to mourn his death and celebrate his life in Hollywood, Westwood and various other spots around town.

But worldwide, the Internet and Twitter became the collective grieving ground for millions who wanted to find news about Jackson or express their feelings. Spikes in traffic were huge, slowing down servers, according to numerous press reports.

Motorists in L.A. could hear various Jackson songs on other drivers' car radios, since plenty of stations devoted all their Thursday air time to the performer.

In Westwood, dozens of people -- including many UCLA students -- gathered outside of the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center upon hearing the news that Jackson had been taken there.

Some in the crowd were members of the news media, who had to shout over the noise of the half-dozen helicopters flying above the hospital.

Some supporters brought flowers, looking for a place to lay them, while many others brought out cameras and phones to record the event. While members of the press waited to be let inside, a group wired a laptop with speakers and sang along with Jackson's "Billie Jean."

Family members and friends of Jackson's also arrived at the hospital, including Elizabeth Taylor and the star's brother, Jermaine Jackson.

Shortly after 6 p.m., Jermaine Jackson held a brief press conference. He said the cause of death had yet to be determined. Then he asked everyone to give the family room to grieve.

In Hollywood, fans' sentiments may have been sincere, even if their sense of location was a bit askew.

Jackson's star is across the Chinese Theater but was off-limits Thursday afternoon and evening because of Universal's "Bruno" premiere. As guests exited the premiere, fans of Jackson had already begun to gather around his star.

The film premiere was also affected by the day's events. In the pic, Sacha Baron Cohen (in character as Bruno) appears with Jackson's sister La Toya, but the scene was cut from tonight's screening. Also, at the film's after-party, the DJ played a heavy rotation of Jackson classics.

The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce directed mourners to the Jacksons' family star on Vine Street. But a few folks came up with an alternative and left flowers on the star of radio host Michael Jackson, the Brit who is considered the father of talkradio in Los Angeles.

The Chamber of Commerce said the Hollywood Historic Trust will place flowers on Jackson's star Friday morning.

(Dave McNary contributed to this report.)

Y TU MAMA TAMBIEN | on hbo

Just re-watched it on a whim after ONCE and have to say, wow; this movie is good. Hot sex aside (and there's a bit of that, clearly), the style of the thing is great. It's a story about boys becoming men, about "brothers from another mother," and the way Diego and Gael--aww, jeez, can I call them that? after seeing them in person once? I don't think so--the way Luna and Garcia Bernal interact, sexually and otherwise, impresses me every time. And Cuaron knows how to work a voice over.

I don't know if people like how much certain modern Mexican movies--I guess I mean Cuaron films--use voice over. I often don't prefer it in American films, but I can always stand it in a Cuaron film. Why is that? It's done better, that's why. I'm watching JUMPER right now, and the voice over is so heavy-handed ("I wanted to tell her so much...but I couldn't...so I left."), it doesn't add to the story. And in my opinion, if it's not adding, it's subtracting. If you're not part of the solution...

More on JUMPER later.

Y TU MAMA TAMBIEN (2001)
plot: A lady's last sex wish.
thought: Wouldn't you choose Gael, too?
in five: 4/5
sexually speaking: IMDB page

ONCE | on hbo

Missed this one two years ago, and have wanted to see it since. Many compared AUGUST RUSH to ONCE--they both feature a love story, a male musician, and some great city locations--but the similarities kind of stop there. ONCE is...a remarkable achievement. And I don't mean to discredit RUSH, but ONCE doesn't just hit the ball; it knocks it out of the park.

Did I just make a baseball metaphor?

Like Juan-Pierre of the LA Dodgers, ONCE goes into beast mode!

Yes, I did.*

But ONCE is, uh, better than baseball. ONCE is like...an ice cube melting. It starts out all packed together--boy sings a song, boy meets girl--and you think you know where it's going to go, but then it settles into its warmth and puddles out into something refreshingly original (did that metaphor work?), both happy and sad. It's romantic without being sentimental; it's quirky without being too clever; it's sweet without being too artificial; it's real without being dark. It's indy, but it feels new. It made me cry. And it stars that guy from The Frames!

In America, musicians who star as musicians in movies are kind of jokes. Britney Spears in CROSSROADS; Mariah Carey in GLITTER. And when a part calls for a musician, they often use an actor: Joaquin Phoenix in WALK THE LINE; Jonathan Rhys Meyers in AUGUST RUSH. Sure, there's a Jamie Foxx in RAY to make waves, but in general, musician in real life does not equal believable musician in film. Enter Glen Hansard who plays our starring "Guy" to Marketa Irglova's "Girl" in ONCE. Without them both, this film would not have been the fairytale it was. Sure, their accents were a little hard for me to follow at first (thick Irish has never been an easy one for me), but the brogue was worth deciphering, most definitely.

The tale between them unfolds sweetly, warming around the edges, melting even cynical me and showing that, as you might expect, (spoiler alert) the best love stories are the ones that happen once.

ONCE (2006)
plot: Music is the food of love.
thought: Bittersweet yet good to eat.
in five: 4.5/5
fall in slowly: http://www.foxsearchlight.com/once/

*=I actually hate sports. Everything but football-football (i.e., soccer) and American college football--and there still everything but my alma mater's football--and ice skating. Oh, and competitive cheer. And I can stand Olympics swimming and gymnastics. But otherwise, through and through, me no likey the back and forth competition. It's not a truth I tend to confess, but there you go; I'm a team sports-hater.

OBSERVE AND REPORT

For starters...wow. How am I ever going to catch up? I feel like I saw this movie back in January.

It was good, funny, dark...ugh, I can't do this for every movie, can I? Pretend I just saw it? I don't know....

OKAY.

The thing about OBSERVE AND REPORT is that it came out about two months after PAUL "I will blart on you" MALL COP, so the comparison was inevitable. But they are definitely distinctly different movies. PAUL BLART is for the kids. OBSERVE is for the angsty post teens who still hit up their parents for laundry on the weekends and have yet to get past community college. It is in another realm altogether, and though it might be correct to simplify the thing and call it "another mall cop movie," it wouldn't really be fair. It's not even "another Seth Rogen movie." It's...it's its own thing.

Despite the fact that I'm flying high with my university degree (ok ok, flying mid-level...mid-level to low...), I still enjoyed the movie. It went into territory I didn't expect--look out for a scene where Rogen and his mall cop friend smack up some skateboarders in the parking lot--and then start doing heroin--but it maintained a pretty clear "eff you" kind of voice throughout, as if the writer, Jody Hill (not Jonah Hill), was like, "Let's just push this a little further and see what the studio says." Well, they apparently said yes, and for the right reasons. Half-assing your dirty little deed just gives you blue balls. Go full force and blow your load, I say. Not everyone will like it--but not everyone was supposed to. So eff them.

the plot: Mall cop tries to excel.
the thought: Turns to drugs and rape?
in five: 3/5

protect and serve: http://observe-and-report.warnerbros.com/

two months worth of fire city rentals

Here comes the rainstorm.

Back in March, Turner Classic Movies was running a special on--get this--classic movies. This time, the special was focused: it was for the few, the proud, the Oscar-nominated. I missed most of the specials, but I managed to catch the last fourth of THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY, as well as the entire cut of THE AFRICAN QUEEN, starring Humphrey Bogart in a less-than-luxurious role and Katharine Hepburn at perhaps her most prude and uppity. She's a British missionary, he's a Canadian alcoholic, it's the middle of World War II and they team up to rush the African bush and sink the Louisa, a German vessel. Bogart won the Academy Award--and a handle of rum.

THE AFRICAN QUEEN (1951)
plot: Missionary on a wild streak.
thought: Mid-century sexual innuendos abound!
in five: 3/5
sail away

Next up, decided to catch a Christmas movie that had mildly interested me the first time it came around. I missed it, because it was in theatres for all of two minutes, which should have tipped me off. Though it co-stars Sarah Jessica Parker and Luke Wilson, neither of these facts really recommend it to me. But I don't blame the movie (completely). It's a holiday film AND a romantic comedy! They're just not my genres.

THE FAMILY STONE (2005)
plot: Lame girlfriend visits the family.
thought: I prefer holidays chez moi.
in five: 1.5/5
family time

Next, grabbed some friends together to see an original sci-fi thriller. Now, I thought I had already seen ALIEN. And parts of it looked familiar, but I think I might have been confusing it with the sequels. Just not sure, really. Luckily, I saw it now--and it was awesome.

ALIEN (1979)
plot: Watch out, alien on board.
thought: It will suck you up.
in five: 4.5/5
abandon ship!

I consider myself a fan of the Coen Bros., even though I haven't seen all their films. Still haven't seen FARGO. And I know--that's bad--but I'm going to see it eventually; I will. Until then, I'll content myself with Billy Bob Thornton and his black-and-white fight against the fetters of society. If the score doesn't get you, the subtle story twists will.

THE MAN WHO WASN'T THERE (2001)
plot: Disenchanted barber makes unfortunate choices.
thought: Were 1940s actually like this?
in five: 3.5/5
read it and watch it

A departure from the serious--I think I've found my new favorite guilty pleasure. Not only does Chris Rock play the part of about five different supporting characters, but Wanda Sykes steals the show as the title character's girlfriend, Biggie Shorty. The film is unabashedly ridiculous and invents its own language (Sepatown!). I'm not under any pretenses that POOTIE TANG is going to be memorable to anyone outside of a small circle of my friends, but frankly, I don't care.

POOTIE TANG (2001)
plot: Sa da tay! Kapa-chow!
thought: Watch this, ya greezy basterd.
in five: 4/5
quote it, too

Huge Tina Fey fan--and I wouldn't kick Amy Poehler out the house for tracking in dirt--so was excited to see them costar in the upcoming comedy. It wasn't as hilarious as I'd have liked, but both of them are comedy idols in my opinion, so whatever, they ruled it well enough. I think the reason why it wasn't as well received as, say, Fey's impressions of Sarah Palin, is because it was a softer comedy. It was an unconventional romantic comedy, but it was still a romantic comedy. Oh wait, doesn't that mean I should have hated it? Well...I didn't HATE-hate it....

BABY MAMA (2008)
plot: Single lady's baby clock goes tick-tock.
thought: Adoption is always an option.
in five: 3/5
bring baby home

Back to the dark side for a Sundance so-called favorite that I was hearing mixed things about. Well, I liked BLINDNESS. Based on the 1995 Portuguese novel by Jose Saramago, the film is dark and explored something people don't like to consider--that is, it looked at what animals we all can be when put in animalistic circumstances. Left with the lawless, forgotten, frightened and confused? My advice is this: lock your doors, watch your crotch, and hide your food.

BLINDNESS (2008)
plot: All society suddenly goes blind.
thought: ...then caca hits the fan.
in five: 3.5/5
watch and go blind!

Love Michel Gondry, so it was only natural that I'd want to catch his latest and greatest. I know the jury was split on THE SCIENCE OF SLEEP (which personally, I enjoyed immensely the first time and a little less the second), but such is the fantastic, artistic nature of Gondry's films. It's not about "good" or "bad"--they're art. All art is art, tout court. And dammit if the term "sweded" isn't clever.

BE KIND REWIND (2008)
plot: DVD kills the video store.
thought: Then comes Netflix, On-demand & Blu-Ray!
in five: 4/5
get sweded

After hearing all the noise about Prop 8, I've striven to educate myself more about gay rights. I took this quiz online (through Project Implicit) that said I was "somewhat accepting" about gay people, and I was kind of ashamed. I voted no on Prop 8 like any smart person with a heart would, but I'm not content feeling anything less than completely accepting about everyone who walks life a little differently than I do. "Tolerant" isn't the right word--tolerant means you bite your tongue. Accepting means you open your arms.

Maybe it's dumb, but that's part of why I watched PUCCINI FOR BEGINNERS. That isn't to say I watched the film and went, "Oh wow, now I know what it is to be a lesbian. Check that box--I accept." No. Duh. But five years ago, I would have read about a movie about a lesbian romance and thought something like, "What a funny story; that doesn't really exist, does it?" So like Lindsay Lohan's character in MEAN GIRLS, I'm sucking the minimal amounts of poison out, one gay-themed movie at a time, I guess.

PUCCINNI FOR BEGINNERS (2006)
plot: Pretentious lesbian reconfirms her lesbianism.
thought: "Puccini" in the title = yawn.
in five: 2.5/5
listen in

So I didn't like the movie much, but let's face it--it was a bit of a romantic comedy. It also had that high-brow "I'm from the upper [insert direction] side" New Yorker humor that tends to attract an eye roll from me. So haha, wasn't the best.

There were more rentals from the last few months--but I'll cover those in a future post. Aaaaah, this took forever to write. I've lost my touch. But it's official. I'm back.

Back, in the red

Wow, the last time I posted was...23 march 2009. It is now June 1st.

Where have I been?!

Well, for starters, I haven't been doing nothing. Life has gotten busy, and I have been busy absorbing it, falling behind here to get ahead elsewhere. But I'm starting to realise--or rather, remember--that my life is not mutually exclusive of my writing. They're joined, you see; I'm a writer. Without writing (dare I wax so poetic?), there is no life. I'm like Ursula in THE LITTLE MERMAID, whose job, she claims, is to help unfortunate merfolk. "That's what I do," she tells Ariel. "It's what I live for."

Yeah, I know she was lying. But the words fit my story, so I'm using them.

There's also the trouble that, without documenting what I watch, what I eat--what I live, in fact--quite simply, I forget it all. And despite my somewhat consuming need to nestle myself within the fickle yet passionate grip of Culture, my memory for her shape and form has long been slight and fleeting. Basically, I don't remember which movies I've seen or what I thought about them after a while. I'm convinced my hippocampus is shot from years of sleep deprivation in high school and college; I have sleep debt you wouldn't believe. It's why I watch shows like "The Soup" on E!, to remind me what's what. It's like culture homework.

So I'm just checking in now to say that I'm not gone, I was just absent for a long minute, but I'm back. And I know what's what. I've got a lot of catch-up to do before I'm back in the black, but over the coming weeks (days? months?), we'll get it all down, if it's meant to be. I've been keeping a list.

MORE THAN FIVE THINGS THAT LETOP5 PLANS TO DOCUMENT:
african queen, the family stone, LA cafe round-up (cafe bolivar, funnel mill, panini garden, insomnia cafe, dialog cafe, literati, clementine, cafe muse, 18th st coffee), observe & report, alien, the man who wasn't there, COLCOA festival (the first day of the rest of your life, la fille de monaco, louise-michel, je l'aimais, la cliente), pootie tang, the soloist, kogi at the alibi room, cecconi's, baby mama, rudo y cursi, blindness, star trek, x-men origins: wolverine, be kind rewind, SF movies (brothers bloom, devil's advocate, to wong foo thx for everything, steel magnolias, divine secrets of the ya-ya sisterhood), SF food (dosa, house of chicken and waffles, little star pizza, bar jules, mission pie, out the door, home-made guacamole), puccini for beginners, terminator salvation

There you go. And here I go.

I (still) LOVE YOU, MAN

Saw it again yesterday, because frankly, I wanted to pay for it. Well, actually, I had wanted to sneak in to see it, but it was playing on a different floor than DUPLICITY, so lack of mobility forced my friends and I to act honestly. To convince myself the spending was worth it, I did then sort of operate with the delusional idea that my meager ticket sale--much like my one vote in the primaries--would help boost the film, and you know what? Democracy is not dead. I LOVE YOU, MAN finished second, and that ain't too bad. A mere $6 million behind Nicolas Cage. Wait, what is "mere" about $6 million?

Okay, well it was a crowded weekend, so you have to forgive the film that. But having seen it again, I will say that my initial impressions still ring true. It is a funny, funny movie, for all its sweet awkwardness and overflow of bromanticisim. Also, having had a friend who worked on it, I enjoyed catching her name in the credits!

If you were wondering, then, wonder no more: I LOVE YOU, MAN is "laugh-out loud funny!" and gets "two thumbs up!" and will have you saying "Paul Rudd is hilarious!" So go see it.

(And yes, if I were an actual movie critic, I would talk in movie quotes alllll the time.)

Get thee to the cinema, bro: MovieTickets.com