"Shitty" movie marketing begets "shitty movie" marketing

Eagle-eyed Angelenos who were assaulted by the marketing campaign for Underworld: Evolution last month likely noticed the eerie resemblance between the Underworld one-sheets and the billboard for Tommy Wiseau's craptacular cult film The Room, which has graced La Brea Avenue for at least two years. The Room, which has been a regular presence at the Laemmle Sunset 5 midnight movie series, defies description...and convention...and simple logic. It must be seen to be believed.

I'm almost impressed that Screen Gems marketing (unintentonally?) gave a shout out to a film that, according to that avatar of pop culture Joel Stein, the New York Film Academy instructs its students to see--as an example of how not to make a movie.

Hack movie marketers: ironically delicious.

An early Valentine

A big sloppy kiss for those of you who enjoy homebrew videos that namedrop Walter Benjamin and Balki Bartokomous: a forlorn cat puts its plea for love on the Internet.



(via Screenhead)

More guitars!

I've been meaning to post about this, but Broken Social Scene on Conan O'Brien last week was one of the greatest television music performances I've ever seen. Do yourself a favor and click the play button below.



I haven't seen such anarchic joy since these kids danced and shimmied their way into the hearts of America:

Whither "lesbian sushi"?

Driving home along Santa Monica Boulevard last night, I noticed that the neon green sign for Murakami, the famed sushi bar known around these parts as "lesbian sushi" for the loyalty of its Sapphic clientele, had a new name and a new white neon sign. In an intensive investigation (I looked up Murakami's Citysearch profile), I found this melancholy review:

As of late November, 2005, Murakami has been sold to a new chef/owner. A recent visit demonstrated that all is not well at our favorite Japanese sushi shop. The old Murakami ambience is completely gone. The entire wait staff is new, and very shaky. The service has now slowed down by a factor of two. It may be my imagination, but the fish itself--possibly the single aspect the chef/owner is most responsible for, on his daily buying trips--is of lower quality. The lovely flower arrangements the previous owner's wife did are gone--replaced by a cold, barren wall.

At a minimum, I would wait until things settle down before trying Murakami again, but I also think there's a reasonable chance that it will turn into just another random sushi place, hardly worth the trip.

Overall user rating: Below Average

It's a shame that "lesbian sushi" had to go out like that, but even more of a shame that I won't be able to say that I'm going to "lesbian sushi" anymore. Best of luck to the previous owner, and may "lesbian sushi" rise again.

Go see Cal

Losanjealous has a great post today about the legendary Los Angeles plumber Jack Stephan, whose ubiquitous "Stephan! Jack Stephan!" is embedded in the minds of any Angeleno who watched television from 1975 to 1995. It got me thinking about those other craptastic local commercials that only viewers in the greater Los Angeles DMA would recognize. While New Yorkers had Crazy Eddie, we had Cal Worthington, whose commercials are enshrined in the appropriately titled My Dog Spot, and the Mervyn's ads which ended with the shopaholic saying with bated breath "Open! Open! Open!".

Any fond memories of commercials you reference that only garner blank stares from your friends that grew up back east?

We Are Scientists is not your shrink

We Are Scientists is a trio out of Brooklyn via the Claremont Colleges that is poised to grab you by the scruff of your neck and not let go. Their excellent debut album, "With Love and Squalor", one of my picks for the best of 2005, hit stateside stores this past Tuesday. With a price of $9.99 at Tower Records, what's not to love? Hell, I almost coughed up £10.99 for the album whilst in the United Kingdom (the album was released there in October.) Add it up, kids.

As if you needed further convincing, check out the video above for "The Great Escape", directed by Akiva Schaffer of the SNL-saving troupe The Lonely Island.

The union of these two talented trios is better than a trip to the land of chocolate.

Do Do Do Do

In this week's L.A./Valley CityBeat, Natalie Nichols writes a great article on the complex history behind the classic "Bahna Bahna" earworm. Recently featured in an ad for Cherry Vanilla Dr. Pepper, it is familiar to most from The Muppet Show, where a hipster Muppet sang the shit out of it. Little did we know that it originally was featured in an 1960s Italian porn film. Thanks Natalie!

And now, for your viewing and listening pleasure, the Muppet Show skit that started the craze: