Sporadicism: A Word?

Well I know I've been posting rather sporadically lately. And I'm sure that speaks greatly of my character - I'd rather take bong hits twice a day than take the time to actually write about the shit I'm constantly talking about.

Henceforth, I'm going to commit to writing at least one or two posts a week. Y'all can hold me to this promise. Even if it takes 30 mg of Adderall XR, I will do it. Hopefully.

Anyway, I thought the blog was due for a change of tune - so far I've written only about my favorite films of 2008 (which isn't saying much because, frankly, last year was particularly lackluster) and Pitchfork (as a self-professed, unabashed hipster, that publication is my God much like Xenu is to Tom Cruise and his band of crazies). So, in honor of fashion week (fashion month would probably be a more apt title considering that there are four primary fashion weeks, two of which I have already neglected to post about - New York and London), I am going to do a little post about what's going on in the fashion world.

It's rather ironic that I post now about "what's going on in the fashion world" because this would be a long fucking post if I took the time to actually do that. You see, fashion "week" moves pretty damn fast. In fact, over the past two-and-a-half weeks, over 100 designers have shown collections in New York, London, and, currently, Milan. So instead of writing generally, I'm going to discuss a favorite event of each biannual fashion week and post about a few of my favorite collections so far.

What I was referring to before is not so much a singular event, but a fashion week tradition: the multitude of photos taken by The Sartorialist's Scott Schuman. To be honest, I'm much like the earlier-mentioned idiotic hipsters that hate Pitchfork when it comes to The Sartorialist. I've been following that blog for years now and it bothers me, subtly, that so many people know about it now. But that's mainly because I'm a whiny bitch. Regardless, The Sartorialist, for those of you who are unaware, takes candid/posed/etc. photos of the many stylish people of the fashion industry during fashion week (i.e. outside of the tents in Bryant Park, on the street, etc.). And it's possibly one of the greatest ventures ever. I love looking at the photos of these people and have come to worship the regulars he takes pictures of as God-like in their respective sartorial sensibilities. Schuman takes photos of people year-round, but, given the content available to him during fashion week, his postings increase exponentially during fashion week. So it's kind of like smoking a joint on Thanksgiving (a.k.a. the most evil holiday ever). While you're overwhelmed by the ambush of relatives cloistered into a single, cramped house to celebrate a holiday based upon an historical event that never occurred (the only things the Pilgrims gave the Native Americans on Thanksgiving were small-pox infested blankets), being high is the only way to deal with things. In the same respect, whilst being attacked by the dozens of fashion shows that occur each day (it truly is a trial to keep up), Scott Schuman's photos are like that joint. 

... That analogy worked better in my head.

Ok, so I know I said I'd post about my fashion week highlights but, frankly, I don't have the time. And my fingers are getting tired... The whiny bitch in me is coming out full-force at the moment. I'll post that shit later. I know I'm a lazy cunt, but I promise I'll do it. I have a friend coming over so I must take my leave... But, as loyal readers, I hope you don't feel neglected.

Love y'all. That is, all two or three of you.

Posting Style Change

I'm going to abandon the irritating collective 'we' I've been using to refer to myself and make this a more personal blog. It doesn't really make sense to post my singular opinion under a pseudonym-like 'we' to make it seem as if there are several writers... It's actually just me (a.k.a. Kev).

Yes, it's still a 'culture cult,' but I like to think that refers to both myself and the readers.

Rant of the Week: In Defense of Ptch4k

I understand that pseud0-hipster fucks like to rally against anything that threatens their 'ALT' lifestyle.

And I know these idiots also like to think that their cultural interests are far superior to everyone else. 

Of course, they also hate the so-called 'hype machine' as well. Anything that borderlines 'mainstream.'

So hating Rolling Stone and the 'mainstream' alternative media (a contradiction obviously) is a given. But Pitchfork is worse for these idiots. They hate the very publication that covers their favorite acts. It's rather laughable considering it's simply a website aimed towards giving the greater indie artists out there their due time in the spotlight, but to those select 'ALTBROZ' out there it's part of the evil HYPE monster.

STFU. Please. JUST STFU. Pitchfork, though rather pretentious, is not evil. It is not terrible. And nor is its coverage of unknown/underground artists. It's a fucking music site. It's there to review music, cover music news, etc.

When Pitchfork writes about a given artist/act/group, it is not intentionally exposing this band to THE MAINSTREAM. People who hate 'Ptch4k' for it's contributions to the 'hype machine' are exhibiting a more pretentious attitude than the site itself. And that's saying a lot, because Pitchfork is pretty fucking pretentious.

So stop moaning about the coverage of your band. Because, first of all, IT'S NOT YOUR BAND. If anything that band likely wants to get its music out to the masses so that it has some sort of influence on greater society. That's kind of the point of music. It's part of our culture. Musical acts probably want to change the musical landscape, get their sound out there, etc. Stop crying about how you knew a given group first. Just stop. You sound like idiots.

The end.

Once Upon a Time the AAMPA Honored the Year's Best Films...

Top to bottom: Milk (Sean Penn), Slumdog Millionaire (Dev Patel, Freida Pinto), Wall-E, Waltz With Bashir, Frozen River (Misty Upham and Melissa Leo).

Let's talk Oscars for a second here folks.

If the Academy were really honoring the greatest films of the year as they have in the past for the most part, at least in recent years, then why are The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Reader, and Frost/Nixon nominated? Yes, yes - I understand that each represents one of the typical Oscar archetypes: the romantically epic all-American dramedy (think Forrest Gump), the polarizing drama revolving around a significant historical event (most often the Holocaust), and the biopic masquerading as a character study (i.e. Capote - though, to be fair, that film is actually legitimately incredible). HOWEVER, these films each demand so much more. They all lack in substance. Cheap replicas of better films that came before them. All demanding award ceremony attention, none qualifying for it.

If the greatest films of the year were truly being acknowledged there would be a far different batch being honored at this year's event. Hell, even The Dark Knight deserved a nomination more than Benjamin Button. In honor of those films that were not recognized as they rightfully should have been, The Culture Cult would like to set forth its pseudo-Oscar Best Picture nominations in the interest of preserving what little integrity the film industry has left.

Let's say for a minute that Cult Cultural had its way and our nominations held real clout. If this were so, these would be the films contending for those 5 holy spots:

1. Milk

2. Slumdog Millionaire

3. Wall-E

4. Waltz With Bashir

5. Frozen River

Honorable mentions: The Wrestler, The Dark Knight, and Frost/Nixon (it's nomination isn't quite the travesty as The Reader or The Curious Case of Benjamin Button)

Take that AAMPA. Suck it. We're here to recognize the greatest pictures of the year, not those that fit snugly into established paradigms. We realize Milk is a biopic as well and that Waltz With Bashir centers on an historical conflict. However, these films handle their subjects in far more deft and intriguing manners than Frost/Nixon or The Reader and, thusly, break past the confines of their given 'Academy-manufactured' categories.

Now if only our opinion actually mattered... But seriously, Milk is an incredible film that resonates with tragically hollow emotions as it parallels modern day in many respects. Its script is of this year's greatest, the direction, the cinematography, the depth of the various characters, and the reality of Penn's performance - all amazing. Slumdog Millionaire succeeds in terms of fitting that Hollywood epic archetype far better than Benjamin Button. Its tale of doomed love is far more compelling than Brad Pitt as an old baby. Wall-E manages to break past the parameters of its medium. Just think, an animated children's feature that manages to be so dark, so true, and so tragic - all while maintaining such charm? As if our infatuation with Pixar wasn't creepy enough already... Waltz With Bashir transcends the very tragedy of its subject matter, it handles its topic by drawing viewers into a world drawn by an entirely new form of animation. The film is so utterly compelling and so enigmatic in its meaning, allowing the audience to interpret and reason. Not too mention, the main character (a.k.a. the film's director) is as much a hapless, doomed wretch as Shakespeare's Hamlet himself, bringing all the more poignancy to the piece. Frozen River is much the same as Bashir, obviously not in topical matter but in its central character. Both are inherently ambiguous, flawed in their emotional obscurity and facing similarly demanding moral questions. The urgency of the main character's, Ray Eddy (Melissa Leo), actions rings all the more sound in these dire economic times. All grit and all raw dramatic emotion, Frozen River exists as a paragon of the powers of independent film.

So screw the Academy. These days, to regard the greatest films of the year, you have to take matters into your own hands.

P.S. If there is a God, Melissa Leo will triumph as Best Actress at the February 22nd ceremony. Too bad we're fairly atheistically oriented.

THE Beginning

Let's start this shit up.

Cult Cultural is here to provide you with daily reviews, fea

tu

res, exposés, etc. on what's relevant in popular culture.

"I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by / madness, starving hysterical n

aked, / dragging themselves thr

ough the negro streets at dawn / looking for an angry fix, / angelheaded hipsters burning for the ancient heavenly / connection to the starry dynamo in the machin- / ery of night..." - Allen Ginsberg

I thought that'd be a nice way to kick off this blog's birthing... Perhaps beat culture is in...?