A tribute to Philip Seymour Hoffman

The best actor of his generation is gone. A terrible finale for an immense talent. I have never been so sad about an artist passing away, but Philip Seymour Hoffman wasn't your average actor. Here’s my modest tribute, a brief countdown through his best 10 perfomances imo, to an incredible career that has ended too soon.

10. Punch-Drunk Love- Dean Trumbell

For many, Hoffman will be remembered as an infallible secondary actor. While that consideration is unfair and utterly reductionist, it's true he has given us so many unforgettable non-leading roles, like the raging "Mattress Man".

9. Boogie Nights- Scotty J.
Speaking of secondary roles, the ridiculously shy, fatty, gay member of the impossible porn filming crew that has a crush on Dirk Diggler is hard to forget. Paul Thomas Anderson and Philip Seymour Hoffman are going to repeat on this list, if you were asking...

8. Almost Famous- Lester Bangs
I mean, Hoffman becoming Lester Bangs? What else a music fanatic would ask for? Unfortunately the film wasn’t as remarkable (despite its undeniable charms) as Lester's, sorry, Philip's, performance.

7. The Master- Lancaster Dodd
Bad joke warning. Hoffman gave a masterful (sorry about that) performance here, one so immense and powerful (alongside Joaquim Phoenix) they made this imo failed movie a must watch and celebrate.

6. Magnolia- Phil Parma
If Paul Thomas Anderson was capable of making Tom Cruise look like a great actor here, imagine what he did with one of the best. The desperation, loneliness and torment of his performance as the personal nurse to the dying host of a children’s game show was heartbreaking.

5. Happiness- Allen

And if we talk about loneliness, what about the pervert looking for happiness in his obsession over neighbor Helen? Todd Solonz made an incredible fierce, brave movie, one that itches and irks, bursts and suffocates the viewer. And he found an infallible actor in Hoffman to give a face to one of his most striking characters.

4. Love, Liza- Wilson Joel

Oblivion and utter sadness. Hoffman IS the movie.

3. The 25th Hour- Jacob Elinsky
One of Monty Brogan's childhood friends, and Hoffman most striking secondary role. As the introverted, restrained teacher he incarnates self-repression, suffering because of his inability to interact with real world. What should we say to him?

2. Synecdoche, New York- Caden Cotard
The face of torture, a monstrous performance for a monstrous film. Hoffman is compelling, painful to watch, depressing, terribly empathic, nonsensical, all at the same time. As complex and imperfect as this exaggerated (meaning that in a good way) look of what it means to be human and live life.

1. The Savages- Jon Savage
It's an excellent, flawless little indie movie (with the great Laura Linney), but the reason it tops this list is because I do believe (or I want to believe) that's the closest Hoffman, the actor, showed who was Hoffman, the human being. Fragile, good natured but terribly pessimistic. This dialogue on the film summarises it. Jon Savage: [about his girlfriend] She's moving back to Poland. Wendy Savage: What, you and Kasia broke up? Jon Savage: No, her visa expired. Wendy Savage: So that's it? Her visa expires, and it's over. Jon Savage: It's either that or we get married and no one's ready for that. Weren't you ready to keep living, Philip? We'll miss you.

Music & Movies: In-Edit 2012 begins!

Beefeater In-Edit 2012 begins tonight! 

From October 25th to November 5th, a brand new edition (its 10th birthday) of the Barcelona's International Music Documentary Festival takes place. After last year's great experience, Bloodbuzzed repeats with another dose of the most exciting rockumentaries (plus a conference which I hope to attend). Here's what my schedule looks like. 

     Saturday, October 27th

18:00 Searching for Sugar Man

22:30 I Am Trying to Break Your Heart

Sunday 28th 

20:00 Let's Get Lost

Monday 29th

20:15 Sunset Strip

Wednesday 31st

19:00 Music and Politics (Chat)

Sunday, November 4th 

20.15 London: The Modern Babylon

 
See you at the movies!

"Dreams from Bunker Hill", Hollywood vs John Fante

Dreams from Bunker Hill- John Fante

The great John Fante again folks. This time with one of the Arturo Bandini's quartet, the stories of his impulsive and passionate alter ego, and the last book Fante's wrote. Well, technically (and as his son Dan confirmed us on a special presentation he gave in Barcelona this spring) it was dictated to his wife Joyce, as Fante's was struggling with the increasing problems (blindness, lack of mobility) consequence of the diabetes that finally took him away. To think this little wonder was orally transmitted makes me shiver. How can a suffering mind have the clarity of creating such a joyful and absorbing piece? Such a masterful work of concision (barely 150 pages), a triumph of style without losing the trademark of his prose: injecting an incomparable burst of life to every sentence.

This is the fourth book I have read from Fante's, and "Dreams from Bunker Hill" might be the one that has pleased me the most. Like on "West of Rome", particularly on "My Dog Stupid", I enjoyed the less raw version of his alter egos. Bandini looks more like a younger version of Henry Molise than the aggressive Arturo of the earlier chapters of his saga, and the sense of humour, with that little hint of melancholia, permeates a character and the story, provoking a much warmer and closer feeling with reader. Hey, don't get me wrong. Fante's prose still make you feel like being involved on a boxing match in which you have zero choices to win. By the time you are beginning to catch your breath, you are on the ground, completely knock-out by his style: nervous, without reservations or artifices. A relentless attack.

Narrated from the distance maturity gives, this looks like a version of  "The Day of the Locust" from Nathanael West. Arturo Bandini tries to be succesful, or at least make a decent living in L.A., as a Hollywood scriptwriter. But very soon the reader will acknowledge his fate is to become amusingly (for us) frustrated by the cinema industry. A collection of disasters, involving fights, gorgeous women, ridiculous movie plots (a wonder of structure and lucidity these pages in particular), star fanatics living in a parallel world, and a lot of eccentrics people. Its an intense and vital satire of Hollywood, in which biles has been left aside, replaced by irony and humour.

Not enough to convince you to read it? Then let me add the book includes, offers two little, different short stories inside it, and both are excellent, entering a territory where autobiography and slight fantasy met: one with an impossible but very moving love story. The other one with an Italian wrestler. They would have been amazing tales on their own.

And one last highlight before concluding the review. Why Fante deserves all that late recognition and praise?You'll find the answer on the last paragraphs/page of chapter nine, where he reveals how he got "trapped" with writing. How lucky we are he did. Do yourself a favour: read Fante.

SCORE: 8/10

Discoverer 2: new indie findings

Second round of indie bands for your listening pleasure!

Reading Rainbow. Sarah Everton and Rob Garcia are Reading Rainbow, the couple responsible of "Prism Eyes", their sophomore album, a refreshing treaty of indie pop/garage-punk, full of reverb, compulsive beats, hyper-vitaminated guitars, joyful intertwined harmonies and occasional vintage synth sounds, like in this "Always on My Mind". If you like Best Coast, Wavves or Dum Dum Girls, try Reading Rainbow.

La Sera. "Kickball" Katy (or Katy Goodman) is one third of the Vivian Girls, one of the top bands from the lo-fi/pop-punk, female-fronted, American scene. But she also embarked herself on a solo project, that after hearing a couple of tunes in 2010, has crystallised in a debut album released this February, where she replaces the noisier sound of the Vivian Girls for a poppier style, somewhere between Pixies and the dream-pop. Add funny videos like this one, and the combination  is simply irresistible.




Summer Fiction. Before 2010 ended, an unknown band from Philadelphia released a collection of charming, bookish and classy indie pop gems. It was one of the best debut albums of the year and it all came from Bill Ricchini's mastermind, who composed and self-produced this wonderful album. Chamber pop that trails back to the 60s and has the looks of a black and white French or Italian film full of glamorous parties, betrayals and summer romances. Like in this stunning "Chandeliers".

Best films of the decade (2000-2009)

There are many lists like that, but mine came from a challenge proposed on muzikalia's forums. A very good excuse to review, think and discuss about movies with a couple of friends also involved in the "experiment". Here's the result of some "tough" but funny days (votes and comments soon on the aforementioned forum).

1. Lost in Translation

2. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

3. Ghost World

4. Mi Vida Sin Mí (My Life Without Me)

5. The 25th Hour

6. Wendy and Lucy

7. The Wind that Shakes the Barley

8. The Royal Tenenbaums

9. High Fidelity

10. Before the Sunset

11. Das Leben der Anderen (The Lives of the Others)

12. Million Dollar Baby

13. The Squid and the Whale

14. Control

15. We Own the Night

16. (500) Days of Summer

17. Half-Nelson

18. En la Ciudad (In the City)

19. Revolutionary Road

20. Rachel Getting Married

21. Life Aquatic

22. Zodiac

23. Hable con ella (Talk to Her)

24. Punch-drunk love

25. Lomax, the Songhunter

26. Amélie

27. 24 Hours Party People

28. Me, You and Everyone We Know

29. Everything is Illuminated

30. All or Nothing

31. Good Night, and Good Luck

 32. The Savages
33. American Splendor

34. Adaptation

 35. Lakposhtha hâm parvaz mikonand (Turtles Can Fly)

36. Entre les Murs (The Class)

37. The Navigators

38. No Direction Home

39. Two Lovers

40. Syriana

41. Tropa de Elite (Elite Squad)

42. Juno

43. Xìngfú Shíguāng (Happy Times)

44. Etre et Avoir (To Be and To Have)

45. In Search of a Midnight Kiss

46. The Damned United

47. Thank You for Smoking

48. Las horas del día (The Hours of the Day)

49. Little Children

50. The Assassination of Richard Nixon

Romantic movies for Valentine's Day. An alternative proposal

Tired of watching the same horrible "romantic films"? Well, maybe you can try some of the following proposals. A list to prove that "romantic" doesn't have to mean stupid, despite Hollywood usual attempts.

1. Manhattan
2. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
3. Annie Hall
4. The Apartment
5. Before the Sunrise
6. Before the Sunset 
7. (500) Days of Summer
8. Harold and Maude
9. Two Lovers
10. Once

Here's the link to the complete article (in Spanish) from the website I collaborate with:
Películas románticas para San Valentín. Una propuesta alternativa