Happy Birthday Lola

 

”I wanted an intro similar to what we used on “Dedicated Follower Of Fashion”, which was two Fender acoustic guitars and Dave’s electric guitar; so I went down to Shaftesbury Avenue and bought a Martin guitar, and this National guitar that I got for £80, then double-tracked the Martin, and double-tracked the National – that’s what got that sound.”

 

I leave it to our designated Kinksman to comment on all things Lola vs Powerman and Moneygoround, but I enjoyed the 50th birthday article here.

The subject matter sailed over the heads of the BBC censors, who only balked at the lyrical mention of Coca-Cola, which violated its rule about commercial insertions. In reaction, Davies subbed in “cherry cola” on an alternate version.

While gay references had cropped up in pop songs before, “‘Lola’ was the first big hit with an L.G.B.T. theme,” said JD Doyle, a music historian who ran the authoritative radio show “Queer Music Heritage.” “‘Lola’ made history.”

According to Davies, “Lola” encouraged other songwriters to explore related territory. “Before he passed away, Lou Reed told me that ‘Lola’ was a big influence on him,” he said. “It was reassuring to him when he did ‘Walk on the Wild Side.’”

Fixing The Worst VFX Shot Ever

Fascinating!

I can easily remember sitting in the theater watching The Mummy Returns with the wife, laughing my ass off when the shot in question popped up. This loud, idiotic sequel was annoying as shit already, and somehow, a rubberized Dwayne Johnson at the end was the perfect cherry on top.

The fix isn’t 100%, which these guys readily admit, but it’s a million times better.

I Was Reminded Of This The Other Day

Very funny, and very much NSFW.

From Our RoboCop Remake, a project undertaken by a group of filmmakers pissed off about the 2014 RoboCop remake …

Our RoboCop Remake is a crowd-sourced feature based on the 1987 Paul Verhoeven movie. Pooling our resources through various filmmaking channels (including Channel 101) we are 50 filmmakers (amateur and professional) from Los Angeles and New York who have split the original RoboCop into individual chunks, remaking the movie ourselves. Not necessarily a shot-for-shot remake, but a scene-for-scene recreation. We’re big fans of the original RoboCop, and as filmmakers and film fans kinda rolling our eyes at the Hollywood remake machine, we’ve elected to do this remake thing our own way.

Our RoboCop Remake premiered in Los Angeles on January 26th 2014 and New York on February 5th. On February 6th, it was released online.

Because if anyone is going to ruin RoboCop, it’s us.

Mission: Impossible – Fallout

Ms. Makerbot and I finally saw Mission: Impossible – Fallout yesterday afternoon. I seem to recall enjoying the last MI movie (Rogue Nation?) a few years back, but couldn’t tell you much about it now. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, probably more of a testament to the movie as escapist summer fun than a dig.

Anyway, my overall impression is that this one’s better than that one. Fallout has a just-complex-enough twisty plot, evil bad guys hellbent on world destruction, lots of great set pieces, and a silly-but-fun McGuffin. Say what you want about Tom Cruise’s personal life, the guy just wants to make great movies. And perform all his own stunts, if possible. He reportedly trained an entire year for one of them, and production was halted a few months after he broke his ankle performing another.

Have the Mission: Impossible movies always just been American James Bond with M and Q along for the ride?