File under Fetish, SeMeN SPeRmS Approved, SeMeN SPeRmS BLArRrG, Sex
Conjured by o~ SeMeN SPeRmS ~o on September 23, 2011
Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones (1980) TV Movie – Drink The Kool-Aid
In this made for TV movie, Powers Boothe plays the infamous leader of the “People’s Temple Cult,” Jim Jones. 1,000 followers give away their life savings to live with the cult in Guyana. When the illegal activities of Jones and his higher ups becomes known and investigators began searching the property, Jones decides to take himself and his followers on the fast track to heaven by staging the largest mass suicide in history. This film depicts Jones’ maniacal worldview and tragic end in graphic fashion. Boothe’s performance as Jones has long been revered as his absolute best, and the supporting cast, made up of such veterans as Ned Beatty, Randy Quaid and James Earl Jones, are equally good.
The film draws on Guyana Massacre: The Eyewitness Account and reports from The Washington Post at the time, to describe the life of Jim Jones from a 1960s idealist to the November 1978 mass murder/suicide of members of Peoples Temple in Jonestown, Guyana. In the beginning of the film, Jim Jones is seen helping minorities and working against racism. Later, after a move to San Francisco and increased power and attention, Jones becomes focused on his belief in nuclear holocaust, and moves hundreds of his followers to Guyana. Congressman Leo J. Ryan is notified that some individuals are being held against their will, and after going to investigate, the Guyana tragedy itself is depicted.
File under Blast From The Past, Cult Movies, Cults, Fashion, Re¢e$$ion $pe¢iaL, SeMeN SPeRmS BLArRrG, SeMeN SPeRmS ViDeO CLuB, Trash TV
Conjured by o~ SeMeN SPeRmS ~o on September 21, 2011
NeckFace ‘n Fuck This Life – 2 Of Amerikas Most Wanted – September 18 New Image Art
New Image Art is proud to announce the coming together of artist Neck Face and New York based “FUCK THIS LIFE”. This union is a recipe for disaster of the most curiously illuminating kind, collaboratively commentating on the harsh and the veiled, the outlawed and the unthinkable.
Neck Face recently exhibited alongside those considered most influential in American street art culture in MOCA’s Art in the Streets exhibition. The event reintroduced the performer in Neck Face, whose portrayal of a down and out alley dweller brought him the first mention in the New York Times review of the graffiti and street art retrospective. His Halloween show openings have become notable charades celebrating the lurid and the ghastly complete with a haunted house entrance staged along with his family. Neck Face’s aptitude for multi-media has also been seen in the production of metal masks, paper-maché sculptures and film. For this unique character and international figure of street culture, the true triumph lies in the pure harmony between his examination of the villain, the rogue and the nightmare and his unfaltering wit and fresh approach. This time in Amerika’s 2 Most Wanted, Neck Face’s unmistakable illustrative style is maintained in the expansion of his medium to charcoal drawings. Also exhibiting his brilliantly colored guache and ink paintings, these works begin their development with scrawls on napkins with a bar maid’s breast-pocket pen – parody’s of his own tailoring, drawn from cartoons to current events of all denominations.
FUCK THIS LIFE has participated in The New York Art Book Fair at MoMA PS1 with his well-known street culture ‘zine.
Several published anthologies deep – FUCK THIS LIFE also has a haphazard initiation of his own process – collecting discarded remains of newspapers (and other less savory publications) off the ground and scouring them for applicable images. The ensuing collages reveal themes of fate, tragedy, brutality and the human condition. In spite of the staggering trauma, main-stream hypocrisy and sensationalism represented in FUCK THIS LIFE’s socially analytical work, there is a stillness and commanding refinement to its assembly. New Image Art is honored to exhibit these full color original images for the first time.
A coalescence of eerie irony and macabre humor underpin this duo’s social interpretation.
File under Arts 'n Crafts, Culture, Fuck Art Let's Fuck, Graffiti, SeMeN SPeRmS Approved, SeMeN SPeRmS BLArRrG
Conjured by o~ SeMeN SPeRmS ~o on September 14, 2011
Elvis The Movie (1979) John Carpenter Directed TV Movie Starring Kurt Russell As The King
I’m a big fan of John Carpenter, how did I not know this film existed before?
Snake Plissken as The King Elvis Presley.
Elvis is a 1979 television film by John Carpenter and is based upon the life of Elvis Presley, starring Kurt Russell in the title role. However, it ends in 1969 and does not depict the last few years of Presley’s life and career.
Elvis is notable in Carpenter’s career for two reasons. It was made after Halloween had wrapped, so it offered him an avenue to try his hand at a film away from the horror genre. It was also the first time Carpenter had worked with Russell, who became a frequent collaborator of Carpenter’s. Russell subsequently starred in Escape from New York (1981), The Thing (1982), Big Trouble in Little China (1985), and Escape from L.A. (1996).
Kurt Russell worked with and met Presley in the film It Happened at the World’s Fair (1963). In the film, Presley wants to meet the fairground’s nurse and he pays a young boy (Russell) to kick him in the shins. Later in the movie, the young boy sees Presley and the nurse together on a date and asks Presley if he can kick him again for money. Russell’s cinematic involvement with Presley also includes dubbing the voice of a young Presley in Forrest Gump and playing a Presley impersonator in 3000 Miles to Graceland.
Country singer Ronnie McDowell provided the vocals for a number of songs Russell performed in the film. McDowell recorded 36 songs for the soundtrack, but only 25 were used. Elvis originally aired on ABC opposite two blockbuster films; Gone with the Wind on CBS, and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest on NBC. Despite this, Elvis beat both in the Nielson ratings, receiving a 27.3 rating compared to 24.3 and 22.5 respectively. Elvis was ranked the sixth most watched program of the week. According to several reports, Priscilla Presley was paid $50,000 to check the script for accuracy before shooting commenced.
Russell was nominated for an Emmy Award for his performance as Presley. Also nominated for Emmy Awards were cinematographer Donald M. Morgan and make-up artist Marvin Westmore. Russell would later marry co-star Season Hubley on March 17, 1979. They were later divorced. Bing Russell, who played Vernon Presley, is Kurt Russell’s real father.For several years Bing played Deputy Clem Poster in the TV series “Bonanza”.
File under Culture, Horror, Music, Re¢e$$ion $pe¢iaL, SeMeN SPeRmS Approved, SeMeN SPeRmS BLArRrG, SeMeN SPeRmS ViDeO CLuB, Trash TV
Conjured by o~ SeMeN SPeRmS ~o on September 3, 2011
