Blank Screen

Astronauts Doing the Moonwalk in the Middle of a Mini Mall

Tue, 20 Sep 2011 17:34:17 -0400

Secrets of Mexuality

Mon, 19 Sep 2011 19:25:12 -0400

By the great Martha Colburn, who I met once at the ATP Festival in 2009 at the Catskills and she was super nice and Jim Jarmusch was smoking a cigarette by a lake and there was this one long-haired fanboy dude who kept bugging him and you could tell Jim was like, “Alright, man, I get it,” and stuff.

Guatemalan 8-bit

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 01:10:42 -0400

MENEO - BIRTH OF THE SANTA NALGA from Martin Inda on Vimeo.

¡Star Trek en Español!

Tue, 09 Aug 2011 18:14:47 -0400

Sidney Pink

Tue, 09 Aug 2011 18:07:12 -0400

More here.

Cars Should Be Kidz

Tue, 09 Aug 2011 17:56:00 -0400

What if you had a car that was a baby? No, for reals. Christopher Boucher busts out the imaginative big guns and uses the famed 60’s VW manual as a model for his novel where his son is a VW Beetle. Melville House, a great indie publisher in Brooklyn, put it out, too. Doesn’t get more awesome than that. Good stuff!

Two things I enjoy: Benjamin Marra’s comics and beat...

Sat, 16 Jul 2011 12:08:41 -0400

Two things I enjoy: Benjamin Marra’s comics and beat producer Clams Casino. I think they go well together. CC has done beats for Lil’ B, who is brilliant at being Lil’ B. Marra did the drawing of Sir B, depicting him at his absurd, lady-getting finest. Check out a little somethin’-somethin’ he did below:

David O’ Reilly’s dope-looking The Agency was made...

Sat, 16 Jul 2011 11:55:50 -0400

David O’ Reilly’s dope-looking The Agency was made with PFFR’s Vernon Chatman (1/2 of Wonder Showzen and Xavier: Renegade Angel and the upcoming Adult Swim show The Heart: She Holler) and used the animation of Xtranormal to break a world record for length of time in making an animated feature. The sneak peak below looks hilarious:

The Agency (excerpt) from Cinefamily on Vimeo.

Space is Overrated

Fri, 08 Jul 2011 16:45:20 -0400

An architect builds a house in an alleyway for writer Etgar Keret

Martha Colburn Imagines Diana Wagman

Wed, 03 Feb 2010 15:38:00 -0500

A few years ago we had the pleasure of interviewing Martha. Look for the re-issue of that interview soon!

Wonder Showzen Interview (do not read while driving)

Wed, 27 Jan 2010 22:44:00 -0500

What are you wearing?
The hides of a thousand otters encompass my rumpus. On top I wear a
shiny chain-mail bikini bottom that reflects the shiny, shiny gleam of
my faceplate, which in turn mirrors the dull green glower of your
jealous, jealous puss. Do you likee it?

Whose idea was it for the show? What were its beginnings?
…I guess that means “no”, you don’t like my outfit. Fine…[bites lip to
stop it from trembling, it bleeds] …uh…Show origins? Originally we
were just trying to cook up a stroganoff casserole, but we mangled the
recipe so extravagantly that when we opened the oven, there was a
snarling show crouched inside, which gnashed its fang, yowled, and bit
us on our collective kissers. I think we just used too much salt.
See, here’s where it bit me. [points to bloodied lip as irrefutable
proof.]

What did you all do in terms of writing and comedy before Wonder
Showzen?
Well… before you birth (broadcast) a baby (show) you gotta prime the
pump (uterus) with our (write) grease (production experience). So we
wrote (masturbated) on such things as Conan, Chris Rock, Snoop, and
South Park (into a cup).

In 1928, Walt Disney stole “Steamboat Willie” from Buster Keaton.
Centuries later, Wonder Showzen is the new bling. Do you guys feel like
you’re the new family entertainment?
Bling? We are not some bejeweled trinklet that dangles from the neck
of confidenceless pretards who need shiny to support their egos, nor
some bloodsoaked chest woobie of the love starved. We hover above the
gleam, buoyed by the sizzle of substance; not the substance you sniff
up your tukus either. But seriously do you like my outfit? Cuz I
worked really hard on it…

Do you try to offend yourselves? How?
By hate-raping your dead grandpas rusty rectal kkkunt with the severed
bloody bear cock of American $uperiority. But, sad to say it just
comes off as devastatingly charming banality.

Vernon, you used to write for the Keenan Ivory Wayans Show. Is
Wonder Showzen pretty much the same thing?
Yes, because I was fired when I leapt on Keenen’s shoulders and yanked
the zipper that runs down his back, causing two angry little white
chicks to tumble out of his lifeless skin-shell and kick Marlon in the
dumbs. This was before the Wayans all died from cancer of the premise.

Who are the writers, filmmakers and artists who have influenced you
all?
Dvotrsevoy, ODB, Kersels, Bunuel, Boredoms are some names that my brain
told my fingers to shit out. There are too many more to print. If you
agree to print all of them, we’ll provide the list, but we must warn
you, it’s over 43,596,345 pages long and there will be no more forest.

If Wonder Showzen would have never been made as a TV show, in what
other form would it exist?
Loaf. No… Ladyfinger.

Have you ever thought about a doing an all-Spanish Wonder Showzen?
People in Latin-America love things in Spanish.

The people in Latin America must find their own way out of the forest.
The Spanish language doesn’t mean anything. Its just an organized
system of random vocalizations designed to signify objects and ideas.
Like all language, it’s a barrier to truth, like the Pope or raisins or
Chicanos.

You’ve had Devendra Banhart, David Cross, Will Oldham and others
on the show. If you could use anyone from history, who would you love
to have on the show and how?
If I could have dinner with anyone in history, I think I’d eat Jesus.

Tell me about the writing process. How long does it take to finish
an episode?
Each show is improvised live on the spot, and the magic of the moment
never fails to deliver big on a… really…. to have…a…thing…soup.

If you weren’t doing this show, what jobs would both of you be
doing?
I would open a kiosk in the mall called “Corn On The Fun”. It’s a store
where you bring in your own fresh hot corn on the cob and we provide
custom dipping powders… Then I’d open its discount rival, “Fun On The
Cob”, to bring that stupid stinking store to its knees. [Corn On The
Floor—ED]

What TV shows or comedians do you all think everyone in the world
should know?
Eddie Pepitone.

Your show has a Sesame Street on ketamine aesthetic. Do you guys
ever get aesthetically insulted?
Once we realized that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, we tracked
down the beholder and pried his eye out with a spoon. We fed it
breadcrumbs and lies until it grew old enough to fly home to Tuscany.
Have you been? You must. Your Father’s estate is out there.

You mentioned Kierkergaard once on your show, don’t you think
philosophy belongs in the streets, like rap music? You guys are
philosophers.
The Truth: Thank you. It’s true, we did invent rap. But our creation
has been corrupted beyond recognition: in our initial vision, rhyming
words were strictly forbidden like pork to a jew or a jew to rap.

Our Philosophy: Fool you once, shame on you. Fool you twice, who ate my
shoe?

Lil’ Hitler was something you did to try and get cut, but ended up
staying in the show because MTV liked it. How often does that happen
where you make something intended to get cut but it stays?
A comedy bit being accepted by MTV is like a dump being rejected by a
toilet that refuses to flush. That’s right, you turkey—I said it!

PFFR is your collective/band. How important is music to the
creation of the show? Do you guys listen to certain stuff when
editing?
Audible music is for dicks. We only listen to snapshots of post neo
deep urban echodelic doo-wop screwtop sludgecore bands flipping the
bird to Koko the Gorilla. But not anymore. That got old hat while you
were just reading about it. New hat: Fedoratronica.

Is there anything you won’t do on the show, any limits?
Secret: The show is one big limit. The only thing we won’t do on the
show is continue production.

Do you guys ever have creative differences?
Oh, we have big ol’ honking differences, every morning. Usually over
which one of us gets to start honking the other first. Then, just for
shits and giggles, we shit and giggle. [HONK!—ED]

Will Wonder Showzen be around forever?
Wonder Showzen will be around as long as there is even a tiny glimmer
of hope in the heart of just one child in this old world. So, no, it
died of AIDS at Woodstock.

J Penry Is A Wolf (interview!)

Wed, 27 Jan 2010 22:34:03 -0500

J Penry was a fellow Greenpoint when we lived there. Easily recognizable from his almost-fro and killer stash, his work was great inspiration for us. He even gave us an interview.

Who are you?

Good question…just a dude who draws..a lot.

Alabama is a great state. Why did you leave for smelly Brooklyn?
The pizza is way better here…plus I cant do watercolors of seashells very well.

Why drawing?
So I can stare at girls in the name of “art”.

Is there something you won’t draw and why?
Probably not…ive covered a lot of gross things that people still kinda cringe at…lately I enjoy not being offensive, drawing kitties and such.

What inspires you? What doesn’t inspire you?
Im inspired by Dead Moon…graffiti doesn’t inspire me at all.

What would you call your style? What are your influences?
Im a crosshatcher…my influences are mostly comedians like Rodney Dangerfield.

What do you think about art critics?
I don’t know any…well, maybe one…hes nice I guess.

You’ve done cover artwork for Blood on the Wall, how did that come about? Do you have a preference for making album artwork over doodling?
I havnt done a cover for them…just t-shirts, tour art, etc…Brad and Courtney are close friends so they just ask me to make them things over the years…I don’t doodle really, I try to make every drawing something I can use.

If you could go back and do the artwork for any record, what would it be?
Wow…prolly Nilsson Schmilsson, that’s prolly the best record ever.

Tell us about your process. Behind the scenes. The soundtrack to the drawings, etc.
Well, I sit at my desk at work and draw when I have a free moment…I like to listen to mitch hedberg while I draw…I pretty much only use office supplies.

Fuse Gallery here in New York just put you in one of their shows—do you think theres a divide still between the “Fine Art” world and what you’re doing?
I don’t really know shit about fine art, I couldn’t tell you the name of any of those Chelsea galleries…when I see that stuff I’m generally bored by it…the only divide is what you like and don’t like.

What does the “J” stand for?
Jason

Are there artists who you hate? Why?
Walt Disney was bad at art because he hated the jews.

Graphic Havoc, which are super fucking great, released your excellent book. How did you hook up with them? Is it for sale everywhere?
My friend adam is from Atlanta…they were friends of friends…so we hung out a lot over the last 5 years…they wanted to get into publishing so they asked me to collaberate on a book…so for a few months we ichatted and emailed drawings and designs back and forth…that is, I drew and they designed…then we sent that to Canada and they sent us a book!…its for sale on Tim Barbers excellent site tinyvices.com plus a bunch of places I cant remember right now.

How did it feel seeing Jenny Lewis in your T-shirt?
Jenny was a sport for doing that…that was the dudes from Vietnam getting her to do that cuz they tour together…I hope she passes the good word around Hollywood…Or she could just tell Diddy.

How do you feel drawing something for Nike? Or bloodthirsty, rich, wonderful corporations? Nike is watching.
Well, I have some jordans…I cant get high and mighty about it…if they wanna pay me good money I cant see any reason why I wouldn’t make something for them

You draw naked people. Why?
Its how god intended it.

Brooklyn is awesome—tell us three things you love about Brooklyn.
Thai Café, Photoplay, and Daddy’s

Any plans for the future? Design film sets? Clothing? Animated series?
Woof…I draw t-shirts a lot…my girlfriend just got me to draw stuff in her new line of sweet purses.

Would you ever collaborate with other artists on a piece?
My favorite artist right now is Aurel Schmidt(http://www.tinyvices.com/Aurel_Schmidt.html)…so yes, I would.

What are you doing tomorrow?
Scaring children for Halloween at jeff jensens house

The latest installment of Derek Waters’ amazing Drunk...

Wed, 27 Jan 2010 22:05:00 -0500

The latest installment of Derek Waters’ amazing Drunk History just won the Jury Prize for Best Short Film at Sundance 2010!

Watch all the Drunk History shorts Here

Mike Mills Loves Humans (interview!)

Wed, 27 Jan 2010 21:42:00 -0500

In 2006 after the success of Thumbsucker and the beginning of his Humans project, we interviewed Mike Mills. Now, four years later, he has a new book out. Check it out!

Tell us about The Humans Project.

I make posters, fabric patterns, scarves, bags, and t-shirts. It’s all available at www.humans.jp It’s my attempt to make art that is not expensive or difficult to access, art that is part of everyday life. I have tried to reduce all my graphic work to this project over the last few years, I’m excited about it, and there’s much to do with it in the future.

How is Humans connected with Japan and Japanese artists?

It’s financed by one very nice funny Japanese guy. Moog from Buffalo Daughter has done a graphic for this, but besides that, it’s my stuff.

What came first, the designer or the filmmaker, and do they inspire each other? How?

I was an art student first. Design was a way to not work in a raried/gallery/high art context. To try to be more a part of the public sphere, less a part of very codified language of the art world. I don’t think I ever really escaped the concerns of the art world, but that’s what I tried to do. Graphics was an attempt to communicate with people with images - but the main high was from being a part of the big public visual conversation. That wanting to converse grew with the filmaking. Film, with language, and time and music, lets you say more. With videos I started writing short visual stories essentially, they developed more and more until I did a feature. To me it’s all one ball, one project, with different ways of manifesting itself.

How did you first get into design, painting and other visual arts?

My dad was a museum director, my mom sort of a jack of all trades artist - I used to draw as a kid.

You are known for Thumbsucker and Air’s documentary as well as your visual art. How have the two mediums of film and design been received? Do you think its more difficult to be successful as one over the other?

Good question, don’t really know the answer. One big difference: people don’t really think about designers as much, they don’t think they are as important, they don’t think of them as artists, they don’t think of them as authors of cultural statements, and they don’t pick on them, you don’t get bad reviews as a designer. As a filmmaker, you’re much more of a target for praise and criticism, the shit I’ve read about myself since Thumbsucker came out has surprised me. The film world is much more thumbs up thumbs down, your film is good or bad, you are dumb of smart, popular or a flop, there isn’t much room for the idea of experimentation or the idea that art is a process not thumbs up thumbs down situation.

Where did Thumbsucker come from and what ideas did you want it to project?

I adapted Walter Kirn’s book, starting back in 99-2000. The book had a lot of echoes with my life, my vulnerabilities, my relationship with my parents. Adapting that book became sort of a film/writing post graduate degree for me. The main idea I wanted to get across is that we’re all pretty scared desperate little animals, we pretend not to be, we don’t like to think about it, but we’re all pretty scared of life, intimacy,love, ourselves, of the quiet, of nothingness - and this isn’t anything to be ashamed about.

Will you be doing another feature film in the future?

I just finished editing my first feature length documentary about people taking anti-depressants in Japan - it’s called “Does Your Soul Have A Cold?” and I’m in the latter stages of finishing my next narrative script.

Do people often mistake you for Mike Mills, the bassist of R.E.M.?