Are you sick to death of sleek cinema? An overbearing aesthetic that has trickled down so far that even the most whacko experimental films and unhinged underground movies strive to achieve a similar spotless surface perfection as those boring big-budget Hollywood films? Blech! Give me the awkward, the uncanny, the janky, the shonky, the half-baked, … Continue reading
“It’s just a question of Tiiiime! And it’s running out for you…” Whoa! Hello there, dearest Filthy Dreams readers! You startled me out of my reverie. I was just spinning and spinning and spinning like a whirling dervish, mimicking Depeche Mode’s Dave Gahan. *whew* I need to catch my breath… Anyway, what’s that? What am … Continue reading
“It is human to shy away from or ignore what makes us uncomfortable, but this practice unintentionally causes harm. You have an opportunity to lean into the discomfort of confronting racism on an experiential level as you view art that wrestles with America’s past and present racial tensions. You have every right to feel your … Continue reading
I’m beginning to hate the phrase “chosen family.” Conducting an interview recently for a well-known “queer” publication, I felt myself physically recoil when an interviewee used that term. Why? Because like queer itself, the phrase, to me at least, feels increasingly hollow—emptied of all meaning—especially as queer becomes a brand identity and chosen families, the … Continue reading
Where have all the cowboys gone? I’ll wait for you to finish belting the rest of that song. It’s hard to resist Paula Cole’s 1990s classic, but if we suppress the urge to run to Sing Sing to furiously (and drunkenly) yodel, “Where is my John Wayne?” we can take her question seriously. I mean, … Continue reading
It probably says something that Nick Cave mused about becoming a cult leader two nights in a row at New York’s Beacon Theatre. This tip of the hand happened at the start of “Balcony Man,” the final comedown song on the hallucinatory album Carnage, released last year with his musical partner-in-crime Warren Ellis, that also … Continue reading
What if the artist who spent most of his career seeking to “be a machine” never really nailed it? That’s the central question of the aggravatingly flawed but incredibly moving Netflix docuseries The Andy Warhol Diaries, directed by Andrew Rossi. This expansive six-part series uses Warhol’s posthumously published diaries—or really his compulsive daily telephone ramblings … Continue reading
“Outside my window, the world has gone to war.” That line, from Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds’ song “(Are You) The One That I’ve Been Waiting For?” struck me last week as I repeatedly listened to their 1997 album The Boatman’s Call. On the occasion of its 25th anniversary, I’ve been trapped in that … Continue reading
Sometimes I think I hate art. Ok. It’s a little more than sometimes recently. Sure, realistically, I know I don’t hate art entirely. There are many artists I love and admire and I’ve devoted a significant amount of time and effort to art over the years. Lately, though, I’ve felt a little less driven, a … Continue reading
L is for Love, baby. O is for Only you that I do. V is for loving Virtually all that you are and E is for loving almost Everything you do. R is for…*cough* Ahem…why hello there, my sugary Filthy Dreams sweethearts! What’s that? Oh, I’m just singing Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds’ maniacal … Continue reading