R.I.P. Pete Postlethwaite.
You randomly popped up as the creepy guy in many movies with that thick accent you couldn't hide and you impossible-to-pronounce-correctly last name and it was always a treat to see you. From The Lost World to the kooky but forgotten Brassed Off to Amistad to Aeon Flux. 2010 was a return to the spotlight in a way with your scene-stealing creepiness as Fergie the flower shop crime boss in Ben Affleck's The Town and an appearance in Inception, he is likely one of the few actors that will be in the cast of two Oscar-nominated movies, something will be more common with the ridiculous 10 Best Picture nominee rule.
If you are a connoisseur of 90s super hits in their LP form, the opening lines of this speech are also the opening to Chumbawamba's anthemic, uber-smash "Tubthumping" AKA to many as the I get knocked out song. There was going to be a link here to it but if you were listening to the radio then, you know the song and will never have to hear it again to actually hear it again. (If you are interested, the anarchist roots and history of the band are quite an fascinating read.) They also released an album in 2008 that held the record for longest album title as of August 2009. Here it is for your reading pleasure:
The Boy Bands Have Won, and All the Copyists and the Tribute Bands
and the TV Talent Show Producers Have Won, If We Allow Our Culture to Be
Shaped by Mimicry, Whether from Lack of Ideas or From Exaggerated
Respect. You Should Never Try to Freeze Culture. What You Can Do Is
Recycle That Culture. Take Your Older Brother's Hand-Me-Down Jacket and
Re-Style It, Re-Fashion It to the Point Where It Becomes Your Own. But
Don't Just Regurgitate Creative History, or Hold Art and Music and
Literature as Fixed, Untouchable and Kept Under Glass. The People Who
Try to 'Guard' Any Particular Form of Music Are, Like the Copyists and
Manufactured Bands, Doing It the Worst Disservice, Because the Only
Thing That You Can Do to Music That Will Damage It Is Not Change It, Not
Make It Your Own. Because Then It Dies, Then It's Over, Then It's Done,
and the Boy Bands Have Won.
Oh Chumbawamba!
Pete, every time I watched Boardwalk Empire I thought you would have fit right in. Maybe as Nucky's (Steve Buscemi) right hand man. You did play one of the greatest right hand mans in history, sort of. No one with every play a non-Asian mysterious lawyer named Kobayashi like you ever again, which makes me wonder if in 20 years they will be remaking the movies of my youth for a new generation. Could they ever really remake The Usual Suspects? I feel like that would be a mistake. Plus we wouldn't want good ole Pete to be rolling around in his grave. Thanks for the memories.
And for every death, there should be something born. Verizon to finally announce the arrival of the iPhone this Tuesday according to Gizmodo.
Wonder what lucky man made Natalie Portman pregos? Get a photographic history of the lucky man with Esquire's The Evolution of Mr. Portman.
FastCompany had an interesting info-graphic for inquiring Americans (one of many since they do have an Infographic of the Day) called Just What Does Your State Do Best? I figured my home state of New Jersey would have something to do with tomatoes or pollution but surprisingly it was not. I know now that New Jersey is "considered the best state in the country to go solar." Well, how about that? NJ, still surprising me after all these years.
Are you as surprised as me that Inside the Actors Studio is still airing new episodes? As much as I used to watch it, since cable has become a 500 channel list I forgot where Bravo even was. But James Lipton is still alive and interviewing people including his long "sought after" guest Jim Carrey, who was encouraged to do the show by Bradley Cooper.
Ever wonder what the coaches in these Coors commercials are paid? Sportsbiz has the answer. The one above featuring Coach Mora is by far the best since Coach Mora's has probably the most memorable track record.
Matt Damon remembers how he arrived at the ending for Good Will Hunting with a little help from a dinner with family friend Terrence Malick.
Patton Oswalt writes in a manifesto on how to save geek culture in Wired.
The Atlantic Wire has provided array of goodies early in this new year: a piece of Nic Cage's Worst Movie Ever, the font that promotes better reading comprehension (and it's not the one you think), and why women should shop more like men.
Xzibit claims that Pimp My Ride made him broke.
Dying to the rule the roast at Monopoly? Deadspin has scientific proof on how to to bankrupt everyone else and take home the win.
Katie Holmes is trying to ruin history.
Lifehacker has a technique for making newly gained habits (resolutions perhaps?) actually stick.
And try to figure out what kind of product this awesome commercial is for by watching it. A minute and fourteen seconds later all I can think of is Toy Story mixed with the amazing Tron:Legacy soundtrack.
No comments:
Post a Comment