by Daniel Robert Epstein

Laura Dern is the talented and beautiful muse of many of David Lynch’s best films. Dern has starred in Blue Velvet, Wild at Heart and most recently, Inland Empire.

In Lynch’’s three hour, shot on video opus Dern plays multiple characters all orbiting her main character of an actor who lands her first really great part in a long time.

Dern has not only supported many independent filmmakers throughout her career, she produced Alexander Payne’’s first film Citizen Ruth, scored an Oscar nomination for Rambling Rose and even changed herself into a femme fatale for Novocaine.

I got a chance to talk with Dern about Inland Empire from an undisclosed place in Manhattan.

Read our exclusive interview with Laura Dern on SuicideGirls.com.

by A.J. Focht

Muggles made Hollywood magic last weekend as Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 took the weekend box office, and made box office history. Deathly Hallows had the largest midnight release ever, with $43.5 million earned that night, shattering The Twilight Saga: Eclipse‘s previous record of $30 million. Sparkly vampires suffered further at the hands of the wizarding world as Deathly Hallows also broke The Twilight Saga: New Moon‘s opening day record, raking in $92.1 million in the US. It doesn’t stop there; Harry Potter nabbed the opening weekend record from The Dark Knight with $168 million. The entire world showed its approval as it collectively shelled out $475.5 million to see the Harry Potter series – putting it one-sixth of the way to James Cameron’s Avatar lifetime gross record in just one weekend!

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by Daniel Robert Epstein

Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris have long been one of the most respected directors in music videos and commercials. But it wasn’t until 2006 when Fox Searchlight released their independent film, Little Miss Sunshine, that their names were on everyone’s lips. Sporting a dream cast that includes Alan Arkin, Steve Carell and Toni Collette, the movie is about Olive a young girl who, by default, gets accepted to a beauty pageant. When her parents realize they don’t have enough money to fly her to the pageant, they decide to drive her in their rickety VW bus along with their voluntarily mute son, her suicidal uncle and her grandfather who snorts heroin and is teaching Olive her dance routine. The film has grossed nearly $60 million domestically and is a favorite to get nominated for lots of prestigious awards. I got a chance to talk with directors Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris about the film.

Read our exclusive interview with Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris on SuicideGirls.com.

by Bob Suicide

A study which purported to highlight the equality among the sexes when it comes to computer gaming was recently published in the uber-reliable Daily Mail. The survey was funded by the scientifically-minded, and above-bias team at Doritos, which lends further credence to the findings.

That’s right, Doritos. Now why would the chip company — known philanthropically funding scientific discovery in key areas such as how to make ranch “cooler” — waste it’s time researching women’s interest in computer games when it could be curing cancer, you say? Well, it doesn’t have anything to do with the recent launch of their own online computer game: Doritos Dip Desperado. No sir.

I’m honestly surprised that the survey didn’t find that “women say that computer games taste great and are less filling than the leading chip brand,” it’s that blatantly obvious this is a sad marketing ploy. But what the press release of an article did say was:

That while 50 per cent of men readily admit to frequent online gaming, a surprising 49 per cent of women confess that they too are addicted to Internet games.

And while men spend 22.3 per cent of their time online playing games, women trump them, whiling away 23.2 per cent of their time online playing games.

Revealingly, the study showed that not only are women just as keen on gaming as men — but that the majority would rather spend time playing on their gadgets than having sex.

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by Fred Topel

Patty Schemel, former drummer for the grunge rock band Hole, is the subject of a new documentary. Hit So Hard: The Life & Near Death Story of Patty Schemel profiles her time with the Courtney Love fronted band, her decline into drug addiction, and her subsequent resurrection.

What makes Hit So Hard more personal than the usual biography of a troubled rocker is that it is founded upon home video of Hole shot behind the scenes on tour. The film began when Schemel wanted to transfer her old Hi-8 video (a high end format from the early ‘90s), and director David Ebersole decided to follow the story in more depth.

Schemel’s story didn’t end with her drug addiction and recovery. She also struggled with coming out to her family, and now she is happily married to her partner, Christina Soletti. After leaving Hole, Schemel spent some time homeless, living on the street. Through her firsthand accounts, and commentary from fellow rock goddesses like Gina Schock and Nina Gordon, Schemel and Ebersole paint a portrait of her struggles, and a side of Hole you never knew. Some of the Hi-8 videos even feature Curt Kobain shortly before his suicide.

The film has played the festival circuit this year. It premiered in Austin at South by Southwest, where I sat with Schemel before the film even screened in competition. On her own, Schemel was a mature, reflective conversationalist, the evidence of her former life, her rock & roll tattoos only being visible when she rolled up her sleeves.

New Directors/New Films reunited Schemel and Love in person, and the film continues to play the country in festivals like Seattle International Film Festival and this month’s Outfest in Los Angeles.

Read our exclusive interview with Patty Schemel on SuicideGirls.com.

by Blogbot

If you’re attending SDCC be sure to stop by our booth (#1632) to say hi.

We’ll have issues 1-3 of the new SuicideGirls Comic for sale, as well as copies of our book, Beauty Redefined, DVDs, and T-shirts.

Girls on hand for photos and autographs will include: Radeo, Rambo, Tita, Bob, Ackley, Milloux, Lolana, and Rlei.

The ladies will be indulging in a little cosplay – maybe even as a special character from the SuicideGirls Comic!

See you at SDCC
XOX

Ps. SuicideGirls Comic artist Cameron Stewart will be hanging out at our booth on Saturday between 12 and 1 PM.

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SuicideGirls Comic – A Preview Inside
Dirty Laundry: Cosplay 4 Comic Con
SuicdeGirls Comic Con Cosplay Adventure

By Nicole Powers

Despite being grounded by a seemingly paradoxical levity, which comes across in the form of wry humor throughout our interview, Peter Murphy, a leading light in the gothic underworld, has remained an enigma for over three decades.

He first came to prominence with the preeminent goth band Bauhaus – their seminal cut “Bela Lugosi’s Dead” being forever imprinted in the minds of those who appreciate the dark side thanks to its inclusion, and Murphy’s mood setting appearance, in Tony Scott’s 1983 cult horror classic The Hunger (which starred Catherine Deneuve, David Bowie, and Susan Sarandon).

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