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The Literary Event of the Spring

Edward Michalik — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 16:49:44 +0000

Seth Grahame-Smith is sitting pretty: the movie rights for his mashup extraordinaire, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (2009), have been sold; A-lister Natalie Portman is set to star as Elizabeth Bennett in the film adaptation. Even Time magazine literary critic Lev Grossman is warbling about Grahame-Smith, describing the erstwhile free lancer, whose new pot boiler, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, just dropped, as a “lively, fluent writer with a sharp sense of tone and pace.”

Check out the video ad for ALVH. It’s slick. Grand Central Publishing sank some serious coin into this promo; they’re banking on the book and the author. Right now it’s good to be Seth.

Pretty in Pink

Edward Michalik — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 17:28:05 +0000

What if you were to take the Fuhrer and glam him up? Photoshop him to look like a line dancer in a Lady Gaga or Pet Shop Boys video. Would he be any less frightening? I’m not sure how to react to this image of Hitler. It makes me want to chuckle at his expense. Then I catch myself: some subjects are just notfunny. This vamped-up Hitler does make you do a double take, though. Seeing the Monster puffed up in pink creates cognitive dissonance, enough at least in my case to dissolve this reification of Evil. Briefly.

Props: Culture Vulture

Megan Fox does Armani

Edward Michalik — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 15:50:20 +0000

An alternative title for this post: “A Shameless Way to Boost Traffic to a Blog.” You gotta admit, though, Megan Fox be lookin’ fine.

She Puts the S in Sultry

Edward Michalik — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 13:55:20 +0000

That’s what chanteuse Jill Barber does in this scorching blues-n-swing number, “Oh, My, My.” Video director Jonathan Bensimon takes this choice cut from Barber’s award winning disc Chances (2008) and sets it at the Alpine Hotel, a dive located just behind the back lot of the Coen Brothers’ Oh Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000). Or is it down on Dylan’s Highway 61 (1965)? Wherever. It’s the perfect place for a gal carrying a torch to die from a broken heart.

And the Best Picture Goes to ...

Edward Michalik — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 17:15:29 +0000

With its seamless integration of 3D, Avatar is the herald of a new kind of movie making. But it’s not the best picture of 2009. Its plot is predictable, its politics progressive boilerplate (the script reads like a Huffington Post blog). Among the Oscar Best Picture nominees, it’s middle of the pack at best. Precious, The Hurt Locker, Inglourious Basterds, Up in the Air, A Serious Man—even a so-called small film like An Education—are richer fare. My guess, though, is that Avatar will take home the Best Picture statuette. For two reasons: its spectacle, which is impressive, and its Hollywood politics, which are not.

Haunted: 57 Pitt Street, Glace Bay

Edward Michalik — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 17:20:43 +0000

The house at 57 Pitt Street was once located on Douglas Avenue. During the thirties it was a rec. hall for the neighbourhood’s Polish community. After the War, the Credit Union bought the building and moved it to its current address. Miners deposited their pay cheques there until Caledonia pit closed in 1963.

I took this photo on Christmas Eve. I’m not sure if the girl peeking out the front door is waiting for Santa or trying to keep the dilapidated structure from collapsing. She seems forlorn. The owner of 57 Pitt once told me that a ghost (a man dressed in camel colour pants and a wife beater T-shirt) haunted the house. I wouldn’t doubt it.

1,000 Kutz (A Graphic Novel in the Works)

Edward Michalik — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 17:19:55 +0000

I thought I was finished with super heroes until last summer, when I read Michael Chabon’s The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay. Then I fell in love with the genre all over again. In the autumn I started scarfing down the transgressive literature of Chuck Palahniuk, whose works, Invisible Monsters especially, were revelatory.

Soon a brainwave struck me: produce a graphic novel, Michalik! Or, even better, a flick (a steamy noir) in stills. Instead of pen and ink, I’d use photographs. Palahniuk’s books would be my jumping off point, but the text itself would avoid the clichés associated with his work. The images would be cryptic tableaus, R-rated Stations of the Cross for readers to marvel at.

Since then I’ve been story boarding a (photo) graphic novel and installation. The working title is 1,000 KUTZ. The budget is shoestring. And I need actors/models and photographers to get the job done. But get it done I shall.

Care to join in? Send me an email.

Not Stranded. A Great Aid Relief Song.

Edward Michalik — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 18:04:00 +0000

For all their noble intentions, aid relief songs like “Do They Know It’s Christmas?”, “Tears are not Enough,” and “We Are the World” are lousy musical compositions: bombastic anthems for big A-list choruses, weighed down with turgid verses, histrionic choruses, and sappy lyrics.

Not so “Stranded: Haiti Mon Amour.” Jay-Z raps the verses with simmering intensity. Bono, amazingly, refrains from going full Bono — he doesn’t wail a chorus; he slips in a couple of subtle vocal hooks instead. Rihanna wraps it all up with a loping chorus and crushed velvet vocals.

The big egos and disparate styles don’t clash. The result: a song worthy of the cause it espouses. Check out Rolling Stone’s report of the “Haiti Mon Amour” sessions here. Watch the video below. Donate some cash while you’re at it.

Donate Now: 1-877-99-HAITI in US/Canada, or go to www.hopeforhaitinow.org

A Haitian Funeral (Warning: Graphic Material)

Edward Michalik — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 04:21:00 +0000

Anderson Cooper humanizes the antiseptic, abstract figures of Haiti’s death toll (50,000 lost? 100,000?), following the funeral cortege of one Brigitte Jean-Baptiste through the streets of Port au Prince. Yes, the video is gut churning; it would be easier not to watch it. But numerical cohorts don’t die; individuals like Brigitte do—over, and over, and over. Death should not be masked or anonymous. Every single soul is worthy of remembrance.

How You Can Help Haiti

Edward Michalik — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 22:05:00 +0000

An injured child at a Hotel in Port-au-Prince, Haiti Photograph: Ivanoh Demers/APIt’s simple: Send cash now—$5, $10, or $20 (about the cost of a decent bottle of wine or a large pizza) will help save lives.

Canadian readers can donate online to the Red Cross or to World Vision. American readers can go to CNN’s Impact page or to White House.gov to find links to a host of upstanding charities and NGOs.

You can also stay informed. Start with the Huffington Post. The Web’s most voracious news aggregator is a clearing house for information on the earthquake in Port au Prince. The Huff Post has Twitter updates here and a BIG Haiti earthquake page here. The CBC has a page dedicated to coverage of the catastrophe and to relief efforts. See it here.

When all else fails, pray, in whatever faith tradition or secular path you follow. Intentions count as much as money.

Help Haiti today.