“Most people are just happy that I punched David Duchovny.”
– Madeline Zima
I actually met Madeline Zima in person at the South by Southwest film festival where her new film, Crazy Eyes, premiered in March. I ended up sitting right next to her as she took the reserved seat to my left. She was perfectly lovely and laughed throughout the film.
By midway through the film I was surprised she found it so funny though, considering many of the scenes involve what they call “Struggle Fucking.” It’s what it sounds like, you fuck someone even while they’re struggling against you. If Zima was in the scene and she was laughing, then I guess it’s okay to laugh.
Crazy Eyes is a semi-autobiographical film from writer/director Adam Sherman. Lukas Haas plays Zach, an aimless hard partying drinker who becomes obsessed with Rebecca (Zima.) He calls Rebecca “Crazy Eyes” and pines for her even though she’s made it clear she’s not interested in him, hence the struggle fucking.
Now that the film is out, I got to catch up with my movie date properly. Speaking by phone, Zima wasn’t quite as aggressive as her character in the movie, or certainly her character Mia Lewis on TV’s Californication. Zima actually revealed some vulnerable moments and had fun discussing the ins and outs of struggle fucking with me.
“What if the Devil was not the bad guy? Maybe he’s been painted in a wrong light. What if God was not so good?”
– Darren Lynn Bousman
Director Darren Lynn Bousman has been to hell and back getting his recent projects to the big screen. Since leaving the Saw franchise behind after helming films II, III and IV, he’s been forced to seek alternate routes to get his work seen. If necessity is the mother of invention, then Bousman’s latest Rocky Horror-inspired project, The Devil’s Carnival, is invention’s demented bastard child.
Bypassing traditional distribution channels entirely, Bousman took the first installment of his unique episodic cinematic rock opera direct to his considerable fan base via a rock & roll-style cross-country tour earlier this year. The film-cum-theatrical experience played to mostly sold-out houses packed with the willfully immersed, prompting an encore tour – the first date of which was at San Diego’s Comic Con. We caught up with Bousman by phone as he boarded the train back from the annual geek fest…
“Actors only work with me if they are between desirable jobs.”
– Woody Allen
I made Woody Allen laugh. Now how many people in this world can make that claim? No one I know goddamn it. It was so cool having him sit only a few feet away from me plus the new movie, Melinda and Melinda, is my favorite of his since Bullets Over Broadway. The film is split up into two parts, the comedy and the tragedy. It stars Radha Mitchell as Melinda, a woman who unrepentantly bursts into dinner parties and sends everyone into a tizzy.
“There must be four thousand songs better than that.”
– Chris Edwards
Our members from across the pond have already had a chance to form their opinions on Kasabian. The Leicester indie dance-rock quartet’s self-titled debut, released in the UK in September of 2004, won the band a top 10 album there and a handful of equally well-received singles with LSF, Processed Beats, Club Foot, and Cutt Off. Now the band, named after Manson-family getaway driver Linda Kasabian, are attempting to repeat that success in the States. Bassist Chris Edwards and I spoke on the morning of the first date of their American tour.
“It’s pretty rebellious to even try and do rock and roll at this age.”
– Billy Idol
Billy Idol isn’t unlike the Incredible Hulk in that he refers to himself in the third person. Of course when youre a cultural icon you can do that sort of thing. Idol helped millions of girls and boys bridge the gap between pre-puberty and puberty with his sexually charged concerts, music and music videos. Now he hopes to do that with a whole new generation of people with his latest album, Devil’s Playground.
“You have people pressed right up to the stage, and thats nice.”
– Gordon Moakes
London’s Bloc Party play danceable indie-rock with an unusual sense of urgency, like the band is striking up a merry tune on the deck of a sinking ship. They’ve been lumped in with others of the new so-called post-punk revival: Franz Ferdinand and all that, but Bloc Party have perhaps a bit too much fire to fit in comfortably with their chilly, artsy, deadpan brethren — so it’s perhaps no coincidence that bassist Gordon Moakes led off our recent conversation with a complaint about NYCs low temperatures…
[Above: “White Noise” from the album Good Morning, Magpie]
I was lucky enough to stumble across the music of Bloomington, Indiana’s Murder By Death almost 10 years ago and since then they’ve grown to be my absolute favorite band of all time. I’ve logged countless hours falling into their heavily visual and moody music. With every album comes new concepts and sounds. Spanning genres from post rock to alternative Americana with strong elements of story, Murder By Death possesses the ability to attract listeners from all ends of the musical spectrum.
After five full length albums, many EPs and splits, and even a soundtrack to sci-fi novel Finch by Jeff Vandermeer, Murder By Death has announced the release of Bitter Drink, Bitter Moon on September 25th via Bloodshot Records. Recorded and mixed by Grammy-nominated producer John Congleton (Explosions In The Sky, Modest Mouse, Amanda Palmer), this album is much-anticipated, and follows their 2010 release, Good Morning, Magpie.
The band are also one of the hardest working bands I’ve ever known. Logging over 1,200 shows in their touring career worldwide, and countless hours traveling, it’s never short of enthralling to see them play live. This summer, they are back on the road, playing not only songs from the new album, but celebrating the 10 year anniversary of their very first album, Like The Exorcist But More Breakdancing, which was released in the summer of 2002.
During their summer tour last year, I spoke with bassist Matt Armstrong about iabout doing an nterview for the site once they announce the new album. Matt has been a member of Suicide Girls since 2007, so he was excited to speak with me.
